Exclusive Interview: Zach Wahls on DOMA, Boy Scouts and More

Zach Wahls is an impressive young man. Barely into his twenties, Zach has already stood tall against attempts to define away marriage equality in Iowa state and has led the charge for gay scouts and scout leaders to be given equal treatment by the American Boy Scouts Association.

Care2 recently caught up with Zach for an in-depth interview where he spoke freely on a variety of topics.

We took Zach back to that time in 2011 when he stood before an Iowa judiciary committee hearing on an ultimately unsuccessful constitutional amendment to ban marriage equality. At just 19, he testified before the court that the fact that he, a straight man, has same-sex parents has never been a detriment to his character.

Zach also gave us insight into his role as a leading force attempting to change the Boy Scouts of America’s ban on openly gay scouts and scout leaders. He told us how pleased he is the BSA has changed its policy on gay scouts, and how he is gearing up for Round 2 in that fight to have the BSA retire its ban on gay scout leaders.

Zach shared with us how the Supreme Court of the United States’ recent DOMA decision has directly affected his family, gave us a heads-up about his future plans to complete his university education, and also talked about his other projects, such as his involvement in environmental causes.

Finally, Zach took time to deliver a very special It Gets Better message.

So if you have 20 minutes to spare, sit back and watch Care2′s exclusive interview with Zach Wahls:

To connect with Zach Wahls, you can head over to his website here.

Zach also posts regular updates on Facebook and Twitter.

For more information on Scouts For Equality, the organization Zach heads to fight for equal treatment of gay scouts and scout leaders, click here.

Finally, you can find Zach Wahls’ book, My Two Moms, here.

<I>Image credit: Wikimedia Commons.</I> Music credit: Munk Turner

66 comments

Gabriela W.
Gabriela W5 years ago

What I need to add to my previous comment is that same-sex couples can of course decide to father/mother children, if they want to, but if they don't, what's the big problem?

Many heterosexual couples cannot bear children, nobody has a problem with that, as of course they shouldn't with anybody in that situation.

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Gabriela W.
Gabriela W5 years ago

What people do not understand when they discuss the LGBT topic is that they are starting from the wrong assumption: that same sex attraction is something you either inherit or is induced by others. WRONG! The science world is starting to acknowledge that people are born that way, This being said, I would like to emphasize how same-sex couples who adopt kids are actually doing society a favour. Not just on one count, but two:

1. Firstly, they are providing love and a stable home to a child who might otherwise know neither, often children who have no one else to care for/love them, sometimes children that nobody wants/ society can't properly look after.

2. Secondly, what's all this nonsense about procreating as the purpose of marriage? Forgive me, but in this time and place this is an invalid argument. Might have been a reasonable excuse 2000 years ago. Procreation has now reached such unprecedented highs that the planet has problems in feeding all its inhabitants and it can't support the human race that well any more.So by NOT contributing to the obvious overpopulation problem we are dealing with, same-sex couples are doing us all a big favour!

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REV VINCENT TURNER
REV. M VINCENT TURNER5 years ago

No, actually MAN made the law to marry. NOT GOD. Stop abusing Scripture to suit your own narrow agenda.

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Chris P.
Chris P5 years ago

Look I'm sorry, but do not agree to marriages of the same sex. I believe GOD made that law people

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Sonny Honrado
Sonny H5 years ago

Noted!

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Anders Jonsson
Anders Jonsson5 years ago

Thank You!

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Edo R.
Edo R5 years ago

Thanks for sharing!

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BMutiny TCorporationsEvil
Barbara Tomlinson5 years ago

Many Gay partners, male or female, bring a child into a Gay partnership, from a previous marriage {or partnership}. This is not really different from bringing a child into a hetero marriage, after the death or divorce or abandonment of one of the child's biological parents. The child is the biological child of just one of the partners. No big deal.

Other parents conceive a child outside the marriage {this used to be called "adultery"}, and the child is then raised within the marriage, even tho it is the biological child of just one partner. No big deal if it's hetero - why should Gay Marriage be any different?
With "Science" and all its various means, this has opened up even more possibilities. "Test tube babies", "Surrogate mothers", all sorts of ways a Gay man or woman can procreate a child if they want to, with or without interacting with a person outside the marriage.
Single parents raise kids, grandparents raise kids, adoptive parents raise kids, groups of adults have been known to raise kids - all are potentially wonderful, as long as there is LOVE ...
People REALLY are against Gay Marriage, because they think of Gays as PERVERTS who want to PERVERT THE KIDS... that is the UNSPOKEN thing, that looks pretty ridiculous once you bring it out into the open. All this stuff about "role models", etc., is just meaningless verbiage hiding the true HYSTERIA...

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Eternal Gardener
Eternal G5 years ago

Noted.

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REV VINCENT TURNER
REV. M VINCENT TURNER5 years ago

@Heather: I understand this. I do know biology. If you read my message carefully, it should be rather clear that two women or two men cannot bear children between themselves. Unless you know something about biology that I missed, I believe my point is clear.

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