Zach Wahls is the featured speaker for the Leonard and Shirley Goldstein Lecture next Tuesday at UNO.
Dr. Paul Allen Williams, Chairperson of Religious Studies at UNO, says the purpose of the lecture is to raise issues related to human rights.
He says the issue of gay rights and same sex marriage has been raised across the country.
Dr. Williams says there are powerful voices both for and against it.
He also says the majority of the voices the public has heard have been rooted in a political or theological perspective.
Dr. Williams says Wahls’ talk comes from a more personal perspective.
"Zach Wahls is a young man from Iowa, who is just now 21 years old. He had occasion to give testimony to a committee of the Iowa State Legislature about gay rights and same sex marriage. The gist of his message was, ‘I was raised by my two moms and I’m okay.’”
Dr. Williams says that given this is a major item of discussion across the United States, the university felt it was important to give someone like Wahls the opportunity to tell his story.
Zach Wahls speaks at the Goldstein Lecture next Tuesday in the Thompson Alumni Center at 67th and Dodge Streets.
The event is complimentary and open to the public.