Activist Zach Wahls speaks to students and community members during the seventeenth annual Shepard Symposium for Social Justice Friday night in the Union.
Keynote speaker Zach Wahls discussed stories about growing up with two mothers, the realities of gay rights in America and the fact that first cousins can get married in some states on Friday afternoon at the Shepard Symposium.
Wahls, a gay rights activist, is most recognized as the 19-year-old who addressed the Iowa House Judiciary Committee regarding same-sex marriage. During his address, Wahls used his lesbian mothers as examples of why same-sex marriage should be legalized. The video of him giving his speech to the judiciary committee went viral within a day of when it was given, making him a household name overnight.
As one of the keynote speakers for the Shepard Symposium, Wahls continued to use his mothers as examples. He even mentioned the fact that if first cousins in South Carolina could be legally married, then so should people of the same sex.
“If two first cousins who are legally married down in South Carolina move to Iowa they’re still married,” Wahls said. “But if my moms who are legally married in the state of Iowa – not civil union, not domestic partnership – but who are married go from Iowa down to South Carolina, because of the Defense of Marriage Act, they are no longer married.”
Marriage aside, Wahls also talked about different struggles homosexuals face in today’s society.
“Today in 2013, the 21st century, you can still be fired because of your sexual orientation in 29 U.S. states. Including this one [Wyoming],” Wahls said.
Even though Wahls is not gay, he also talked about the criticisms and questions he has faced growing up with lesbian mothers.
“I get questions like, ‘Well, Zach, who taught you how to be a man?’ You mean besides Mulan?” Wahls joked during his speech.
However, his speech took a more serious turn when he spoke of being bullied in grade school.
“I was made fun of not because I had gay parents, but because I was different,” he said. “There are people who are different who will go through all kinds of struggles, whether it’s because of their religion, skin color. There are all kinds of reasons people will put you down.”
This is one of the reasons he feels that so many people do not want to get on board with same-sex marriage because it is different from what is typically seen as a “traditional family.” However, he says having lesbian parents is just one of several ways people can grow up.
“It’s different than having straight parents, or two gay dads, or straight parents who are divorced, one of whom is remarried and one of whom is still single, or both are remarried so you have two moms and two dads,” Wahls said. “There are an infinite number of family relations you can have. There are an infinite number of ways that you can grow up and live your life. And frankly I don’t think that is a problem.”
Wahls’ speech was part of a series of events that also included a keynote speech by former New York Times journalist Samuel Freedman, a panel from GLARE, the LGBTQ Advocacy in Research and Education) and a Marriage Equality panel.
