由一對女同性戀人所養大19歲的美國優秀青年Zach Wahls，為了爭取州議會不要修改州憲法禁止同性婚姻，一個人站在美國愛荷華州眾議院里的講臺上，發表辯護演講。家庭是什么？家庭是愛的結合，無論同性異性又有何關系呢？有時候，我們對與自己無太大關系的事情不夠寬容，既然與自己無甚關系，為何要強加干涉和指責呢？What Makes A Family英語演講稿雙語中英對照：

Good evening Mr. Chairman.
晚上好，主席先生。

My name is Zach Wahls. I'm a sixth-generation Iowan and an engineering student at the University of Iowa and I was raised by two women.
我叫 Zach Wahls。我是第六代愛荷華人，也是愛荷華大學電機系學生，我是由兩位女性撫養長大的。

My biological mom, Terry, told her grandparents that she was pregnant, that the artificial insemination had worked, and they wouldn't even acknowledge it.
當我的生理母親泰瑞告訴她祖父母她懷孕了、人工受孕成功了，他們根本不想承認有過這件事。

It wasn't until I was born and they succumbed to my infantile cuteness that they broke down and told her that they were thrilled to have another grandson.
直到我出生以后，因為小嬰兒如此可愛，他們總算放下心防告訴她，他們很高興家里多了一個孫子。

Unfortunately, neither of them lived to see her marry her partner Jackie of 15 years when they wed in 2009.
遺憾的是，他們二位都沒能活到親眼見到她與她在一起十五年的伴侶賈琪結婚。她們二位在2009 年結婚。（按：Iowa當時已通過民事結合法，現在是要投票廢掉）

My younger sister and only sibling was born in 1994. We actually have the same anonymous donor so we're full siblings, which is really cool for me.
我唯一的妹妹在1994年出生。我們兩人的生理父親是同一位匿名捐精者，因此我們的血緣是完全相同的，對我來說是件很酷的事。

Um, I guess the point is our family really isn't so different from any other Iowa family. You know, when I'm home we go to church together, we eat dinner, we go on vacations. Ah, but, you know, we have our hard times too, we get in fights...you know.
重點是，我們家和別的愛荷華家庭沒有任何不同。我們一起上教堂，一起吃晚餐，一起出外渡假，當然我們也會爭吵。

Actually my mom, Terry was diagnoses with multiple sclerosis in 2000. It is a devastating disease that put her in a wheelchair. So we've had our struggles.
2000年我媽媽泰瑞被診斷出多發性硬化癥，這種重癥讓她現在必須坐輪椅，大家可以看到我們也有困難的時候。

But, you know, we're Iowans. We don't expect anyone to solve our problems for us. We'll fight our own battles. We just hope for equal and fair treatment from our government.
然而，我們是愛荷華人，我們并不期待別人幫我們解決我們的問題，我們自己扛起槍打自己的仗。我們只希望政府給予公平和平等的對待。

Being a student at the University of Iowa, the topic of same sex marriage comes up quite frequently in classroom discussions...you know. The question always comes down to, well, "Can gays even raise kids?"
身為愛荷華大學的學生，同性婚姻的話題在課堂討論上常常被提起。話題往往帶到「同性伴侶能夠撫養小孩嗎？」

In question, you know, the conversation gets quiet for a moment because most people don't really have any answer.
大家往往到了這部份的討論就沉默下來，因為大家都沒有答案。

And then I raise my hand and say, "Actually, I was raised by a gay couple, and I'm doing pretty well."
這時我都會舉手告訴大家我的雙親是一對同性伴侶，我想我成長得還不錯。

I scored in the 99th percentile on the A.C.T. I'm actually an Eagle Scout. I own and operate my own small business. If I was your son, Mr. Chairman, I believe I'd make you very proud.
我是 ACT (美國大學入學考試)前1%的學生，也得到童子軍的最高級榮譽(Eagle Scout)，我自己創了一個小小的公司，如果我是您的兒子，主席，我想您會以我為榮。

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. ongratulations." No.
我和這里任何一位聽眾的孩子沒有不同，我的家庭和任何家庭也沒有很大的不同。但畢竟，各位的家庭不會因為愛荷華政府給予各位結婚的權利而感到一種存在的價值：“哇，恭喜了，妳們終于能結婚了！”不。

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.「家庭」這個觀念來自于我們對彼此承諾我們能夠一起渡過難關，進而享受因為對彼此的愛所帶來的幸福。這才是家庭的真諦！

So what you're voting here isn't to change us. It's not to change our families, it's to change how the law views us; how the law treats us.
因此，各位在這里投票的結果并不會改變我們，并不會改變我們的家庭，只會改變法律如何看待我們，如何對待我們。

You are voting for the first time in the history of our state to codify discrimination into our constitution, a constitution that but for the proposed amendment, is the least amended constitution in the United States of America.
我們在這里投下愛荷華有史以來第一次容許本州島法律將「歧視」白紙黑字寫入憲法里。我們的憲法，在美國歷史上很常被提案卻是最少被更改的一部。

You are telling Iowans that some among you are second class citizens who do not have the right to marry the person you love.
你們投的票等于是告訴州民，在你們當中有些人是次等公民，因此沒有權利和他們所愛的人結婚。

So will this vote affect my family? Will it affect yours?
你們的投票結果會影響我的家庭嗎？會影響你們的嗎？

In the next two hours I'm sure we're going to hear plenty of testimony about how damaging having gay parents is on kids.
在接下來的兩個小時，我們還會聽到更多「同志養育小孩大不幸」的言論，

But in my 19 years, not once have I ever been confronted by an individual who realized independently that I was raised by a gay couple.
但在我19年的人生里，我從來沒有一次被人質疑我是同性伴侶養大的小孩。

And you know why? Because the sexual orientation of my parents has had zero effect on the content of my character.Thank you very much.
你知道為什么嗎？因為我雙親的性傾向對我的人格健全發展完全沒有影響。非常感謝。 

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