Ross: One of the most heartfelt speeches you’ll ever hear

Amidst the gay marriage debate Wednesday in the Washington state House, Republican Representative Maureen Walsh nearly brought the chamber to tears with what Dave called “one of the most heartfelt speeches you’ll ever hear from the floor of the Legislature.”

Walsh spoke of being married for 23 years to the love of her life and he died six years ago.

“I think of all the wonderful years we had together…I think to myself ‘how could I deny anyone the right to have that incredible bond with another individual in life?’ To me, it seems almost cruel.”

But it was the reason she now supports same-sex marriage that really stuck out for both Dave and Luke.

Listen to The most heartfelt defense of same-sex marriage

“My daughter came out of the closet a couple of years ago and you know what? I thought I was just going to agonize about that. Nothing’s different. She’s still a fabulous human being and she’s met a person that she loves very much and some day by God I want to throw a wedding for that kid,” said an impassioned Walsh.

Dave says he met Walsh on an education fact finding trip and found her to be someone who “followed what she thought was right.” He praised her for what he called “a pretty gutsy thing for a Republican, even as far as we’ve come on gay marriage, to take a stand as she did yesterday.”

From Luke’s perspective, the change in opinion happens to many opponents once they actually meet someone or learn someone they know is gay.

“There’s this idea of gay people that a lot of straight people in this state have and then there’s the reality in my mind of what it actually means to be gay and what your life actually looks like and the truth of it is it looks a lot like everyone else’s life,” said Luke.

-Josh Kerns/My Northwest.com

(Photo of Maureen Walsh by Elaine Thompson/AP)