Who is Zach Wahls? LGBT Rights Activist Will Run For Iowa Senate

Zacharia Zach Wahls from Iowa, who gained popularity six years ago for his speech defending his two mothers and same-sex marriage, is all set to run for Senate.

Born on July 15, 1991, Wahls is an American activist. He is the son of a lesbian couple — Terry Wahls and Jackie Reger. Wahls was born to Terry, an internal medicine physician after an artificial insemination. Terry and Reger met in 1995 and the two held a commitment ceremony in 1996. They got married in 2009 after same-sex marriage was legalized in Iowa.

When Wahls was just nine-years-old, his family moved to Iowa. Being brought up as a Unitarian Universalist, Wahls calls himself to be a member of the same church.

As a child, Wahls found it difficult to explain to his friends about his lesbian parents. Some of his mates refused to socialize with him and instead bullied him.

While watching the Republican National Convention on television in 2004, he learned about the political opposition towards the kind of family in which he was being brought up. Thereafter, he started writing columns for his high school newspaper about being raised by a lesbian couple. After graduating from Iowa City West High School in 2009, he took admission at the University of Iowa and studied civil and environmental engineering.

Taking on to Twitter, Wahls reminded people about his speech that had gone viral years before. At the age of 19, in 2011, he spoke of his mothers’ marriage and defended them in front of the Iowa legislature that wanted to ban same-sex marriage.

According to a report in the Bustle, Wahls’s friends would always be surprised about being raised by lesbian parents. He would let his fellow mates know about his parents and how good parenting it was. He would say, “I was raised by a gay couple and I'm doing pretty well. I scored in the 99th percentile in the ACT. I’m actually an Eagle Scout. I own and operate my own small business.”

Last week, the 26-year-old, announced that he would be running as a Democratic candidate for Iowa’s 37th State Senate District in 2018 after Democrat Bob Dvorsky, who would not be seeking re-election leaves the seat.

While making an announcement of his decision, Wahls said, “This is an all-hands-on-deck moment that will determine the future of our state for generations to come, and I feel responsible for doing my part. Our state has a choice to make,” reported the Time.

He tweeted about why he is running for Senate seat and what will he be doing in future.

Wahls has also authored a book – “My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength, and What Makes a Family.” In his book, Wahls emphasized about bullying, family values, Unitarian-Universalism, and the reality of a marriage between women.

A crowdfunding page started for Wahls’s campaign with a goal of $35,000 has already raised more than $31,800 with donations from 758 people since the time it was launched.