What’s a class president, who is a gay activist and just chosen to give his high school’s Commencement Address, to do when he’s called into the principal’s office and told he can NOT say the word “GAY” during his speech. And if he does, his microphone will be cutoff, and the graduation ceremony ended.
That was the dilemma facing Zander Moricz just a few weeks ago.
Zander had been elected class president each of his four years at Pine View High School for the Gifted in Osprey, FL, and came out in his freshman year because of the supportive environment at Pine View.
He has been an activist against Gov. DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” (Parental Rights in Education) bill, leading a school protest walkout in March along with organizing a similar protest in downtown Sarasota attended by hundreds of people, including the mayor and county commissioners, before DeSantis signed Florida House Bill – HB 1557 into law.
In fact, Moricz is the youngest plaintiff in a lawsuit against DeSantis and HB 1557:
As class president he was accustomed to being called into Principal Stephen Covert’s office for meetings – but Zander immediately felt this one was going to be different. He was warned that if mentioned the word “gay” or alluded to his activism his microphone would be cutoff.
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help. 🧵
— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) May 9, 2022
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help.
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) May 9, 2022
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
At what should be one of a student’s most joyous moments, Moricz now faced a dilemma he hadn’t anticipated: “I cannot ruin something that hundreds of my friends have worked for, for years. I will not take away their moment simply because we have an administrator and a government that is telling us that those are the two choices.”
At the same time Moricz says he would also not compromise his principles. “That is something that I will not compromise over anything at any point in time. I will simply find a way to have both.”
But Moricz gave Principal Covert his word that he would conform to the school’s wishes. As the adage goes: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Tasked with staying true to his principles while keeping his word to his principal, Moricz found the perfect metaphor for “Gay”: His curly hair!
During his Commencement speech, after a few brief introductory remarks, Moricz brilliantly transitioned to a metaphor for his being gay and the damage that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill will do to students in the LGBTQ community.
“I used to hate my curls. I spent mornings and nights embarrassed of them, trying desperately to straighten this part of who I am—but the daily damage of trying to fix myself became too much to endure.
“So, while having curly hair in Florida is difficult—due to the humidity—I decided to be proud of who I was and started coming to school as my authentic self.”
He shared that a teacher, Ms. Ballard, answered his questions “because I didn’t have other curly-haired people to talk to,” and that he found support from other students and adults.
“It’s because of the love I’ve drawn from this community that I came out to my family. Now I’m happy…. And that is what is at stake. There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View and they won’t have one.”
After receiving a standing ovation for his speech, Moricz was interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America:
On a more serious note, he spoke with NBC News concerning the federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the price he has paid for his activism:
Moricz joined a group of over a dozen students, parents, educators and advocates who have filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education, alleging the law would “stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.”
“The reason something like the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law seems like nothing but is actually everything is that when you cannot talk about or share who you are, there is a constant subconscious affirmation that you are not valid, that you should not exist,” Moricz said.
This fight against the legislation is personal for Moricz, explaining it was because of his school’s support system that enabled him to become confident about his sexuality.
“I would not be fighting for these things, I would not be standing up for these causes in the way that I am, if I had not been able to do so at school first. I think in the same way that school is where you learn so many important things about life, you also learn about yourself, and that looks different for LGBTQ kids.”
But there has been a price Moricz has had to pay for his activism. He has been harassed online and has received in-person and online death threats from strangers. He even said strangers have come, unannounced, to his parents’ offices looking for him.
“I do not feel safe operating as an individual on a day-to-day basis in my county. Pineview as a student community has been incredible for me. Sarasota as a community has been something I’ve had to endure.”
But I doubt this will be the last we hear from Zander Moricz. This fall he will begin his government studies at Harvard.
The world could use more chutzpah like that of Zander Moricz.
