In an appearance Thursday on The
Ellen DeGeneres Show, host Ellen DeGeneres thanked Zach Wahls for
speaking out in support of gay marriage.
Wahls is the 19-year-old University of
Iowa student who defended his two-mom family at an Iowa House hearing
considering a proposed measure that would repeal the state's gay
marriage law by defining marriage as a heterosexual union in the Iowa
Constitution.
During the hearing, Wahls
told lawmakers that his family wasn't any different.
“I'm not really so different from any
of your children. My family really isn't so different from yours.
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,” Wahls said.
DeGeneres, who married actress Portia
de Rossi in 2008, praised Wahls.
“I think you're a hero,” DeGeneres
told her guest. “To me, you're a hero for what you did. I applaud
you and I thank you for it.” (The video is embedded in the right
panel of this page.)