A grandmother has taken to YouTube to
defend Iowa's gay marriage law and her married gay son.
In her two-minute-fifty-seven-second
video, Jean Argus says she was inspired to speak out on the issue by
19-year-old Zach Wahls, whose
stirring speech in defense of his two-mom family before Iowa House
members became a viral hit.
“I was moved by his [Wahls'] passion
and his words,” Argus says in the video. “His courage has
inspired me to speak out as a parent of a gay married son.”
Argus admits that her son's coming out
in 1980 left her and her husband “stunned, confused and angry.”
“Years later … I realized he's
still my son, and that in many ways nothing had changed.”
“My son is not an issue, he's a
person just like you. He should not be made an object of your scorn.
He is my son. My little boy. And he's precious to me.”
And she ends her video with: “The
next time you look into your children's eyes, please remember that
you do not know what the future holds for them.” (The video is
embedded in the right panel of this page.)
Social
conservatives in the state are furiously attempting to undo the 2009
Iowa Supreme Court ruling that brought gay marriage to the Midwest.