Teen Son of Lesbian Moms Becomes Star Rights Advocate

Last year, a video of teen Zach Wahls defending his two-mom family at an Iowa State House hearing went viral.

He was giving testimony against an attempt to repeal the state’s gay marriage law by defining marriage as a heterosexual union in the Iowa Constitution.

The video became the most-watched video on YouTube in 2011.

Since then, Wahls — who is straight — has traveled the country telling his family’s story and on Saturday night he showed again what a fantastic advocate he is at Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards in New York City.

“Now since that speech went viral back in February of 2011, I’ve been all over the country,” Wahls said. “From California to New York down to Florida. And I’m continuing to share my story, and have this conversation about gay marriage. Or as I like to call it: marriage.”

“Because obviously my moms are gay, but they’re not my gay moms.”

He joked about the sorts of questions he gets asked by other young straight guys, like who is the man and who is the women…

He said that while meeting Ellen DeGeneres was “awesome” and Neil Patrick Harris “tweeting about me was like dream come true,” the best parts of his year were private conversations he had with those he met during his travels or who communicated with him over Facebook. Like the young lesbian in Michigan who said that hearing him tell his story made her think she could be a mother.

Wahls said that the reaction to his testimony was a reminder of “the power I have — the power we all have — to shape the narrative that describes the human condition.”

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