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University of Iowa engineering student Zach Wahls stood up to the Iowa
House of Representatives the day before it ruled to allow voters to decide
if marriage rights for gays and lesbian couples across
the state should be repealed.
"Actually, I was raised by a gay couple and I'm doing pretty well," Wahls says in his speech.
Wahls argued that overturning the Iowa supreme court's decision to legalize marriage equality in 2009 would be the first time in state history that discrimination would be codified in the constitution. He also said that while the legalities of marriage may harm his parent's rights, it won't break their family apart.
"My family isn't so different from yours," he said. "After all, your family doesn't derive its sense of worth from being told by the state,'You're married, congratulations.' No. The sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other -- to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us. That's what makes a family. So what you're voting on is not going to change us."
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