When it comes to LGBTQ+ youth in schools, Republicans have made life pretty bleak. Conservatives are pushing ad campaigns against teachers who dare explain the LGBTQ+ acronym, trying to get books by and about LGBTQ+ people banned from libraries or even burned, and as Daily Kos has covered at length, trying to keep trans girls from participating in girls' sports teams.
As Daily Kos covered, we know the infamous Don't Say Gay bill has been signed into law by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, but it doesn’t go into effect until July 1, 2022. We also know, however, that openly queer teachers in the state are already worried about their jobs, leading at least one openly lesbian teacher to resign. Students, too, are feeling the hate.
Zander Morics, for example, who says he is the first openly gay person to be class president at his school, says he was advised to censor his sexual orientation and LGBTQ+ activism from his graduation speech. Moricz, who recently graduated from Pine View School for the Gifted in Osprey, Florida, found a way to get his point across without getting his mic cut.
Let’s check out the video of his speech, and what he’s had to say in general about the hateful Don’t Say Gay bill, below.
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As reported by local outlet ABC 7, prior to his speech, Moricz says he was told by Principal Stephen Covert that his mic would be cut off if he referenced his sexual orientation or the Don't Say Gay law during his address. Moricz is the youngest public plaintiff in the lawsuit against the state over the bill, has organized a school walkout, and is generally involved in activism. Given that he’s set to attend Harvard in the fall, I’d say the school should be pretty proud, but of course, conservative hysteria has led to administrators trying to stomp out LGBTQ+ students as much as possible.
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So, given that he’s super bright, Moricz came up with a super bright solution by way of the perfect euphemism.
“I must discuss a very private part of my identity,” Moricz told the auditorium in the video clip that has since gone viral online, before removing his cap to reveal his head of curls. “As you may know, I have curly hair.”
“I used to hate my curls,” Moricz said in part. “I spent mornings and nights embarrassed of them, trying to desperately straighten this part of who I am. But the daily damage of trying to fix myself became too much to endure.”
“There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View,” the 18-year-old continued. “And they will not have one. Instead, they’ll try to fix themselves so that they can exist in Florida’s humid climate.”
You can watch the speech below.
“I knew that the threat to cut the mic was very real,” Moricz told Good Morning America in an interview after the speech given on Sunday, May 22. “So I wasn’t gonna let that happen. I just had to be clever about it. But I shouldn’t have had to be, because I don’t exist in a euphemism. I deserve to be celebrated as is.”
In speaking to the outlet about the law, Moricz shared that if it had been in place when he started high school, he wouldn’t have come out. “It effectively takes away the only guaranteed safe space from the majority of the entire LGBTQ population here,” Moricz added.
All in all, Moricz is clearly a bright, brave, and talented young person. He’s already an advocate for his community and a true leader. But he shouldn’t have to be—it’s shameful that politicians are using already vulnerable young people as scapegoats to stir hysteria and divide communities just to get votes come midterms.
Moricz, like so many courageous young people, puts himself out there, again and again, to fight back against adults whose hearts are filled with hate. No one should have to do that, and especially not when you’re barely old enough to vote, much less buy a beer.
You can watch that interview below.
