A 12-year-old boy is reminding us this week of the true meaning of marriage and family.

Standing before a boisterous crowd of marriage equality supporters inside the state capitol in Salt Lake City on Friday, Riley Hackford-Peer spoke about his experiences as a child of gay parents and the love they've shown him and his younger brother through the years.

"I'm here today to talk about love, family and equal rights," Hackford-Peer told the cheering crowd. "Some people do not believe that I'm from a loving family because my moms are gay -- they are wrong. I love my moms, and my moms love me and my brother, unconditionally."

Hackford-Peer explained that his moms met 17 years ago when they were in college. "They had a commitment ceremony here in Salt Lake City in 1997; lots of friends and family came, but it didn't make them legally married," he said.

But on Dec. 20, 2013, after U.S. District Judge Robert Shelby ruled that Utah's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional, his moms, Kim and Ruth, tied the knot.

"It felt like fireworks bursting in my heart," Hackford-Peer said of the happy event.



Ruth Hackford-Peer, right, and Kim Hackford-Peer, standing next to her, are married by Rev. Curtis Price, left, while hugging their two children Riley Hackford-Peer, back middle, and Casey Hackford-Peer, bottom middle, in the lobby of the Salt Lake County Clerk's Office in Salt Lake City on Dec. 20, 2013.

"Governor Herbert wants to treat my moms unfairly," Hackford-Peer said at the conclusion of his speech. "He says he wants to 'protect families.' But I want to tell him that my family deserves protection, too. I have two moms -- and I love them. And they deserve to have their marriage recognized everywhere."

(Watch the 12-year-old's full speech in the video above.)

The Supreme Court said this week that same-sex marriages would be put on hold in Utah, pending the state's appeal of Shelby's Dec. 20 ruling.