In less than two years, Zach Wahls has gone from unknown college student and Eagle Scout to internet sensation and passionate LGBT activist.

He was center stage at the Democratic National Convention Thursday (6 September) where he spoke eloquently about being raised by two moms and said to Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney: 'My family is just as real as yours.'

Romney supports a federal ban on same-sex marriage.

'Governor Romney says he's against same-sex marriage because every child deserves a mother and a father,' Wahls said. 'I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because 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.'

Wahls came to national attention in the US in January 2011 when he faced Iowa legislators during a public hearing about a constitutional amendment to reverse the Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage in the state.

His defense of his two lesbian mothers went viral and the engineering student has turned his internet fame into a platform for LGBT equality.

He's appeared on various TV programs, recently including The Late Show with David Letterman, and spoke  at the GLAAD Awards. Wahls' book,  My Two Moms: Lessons of Love, Strength and What Makes a Family, was published in April.

Below is video of his convention speech: