As the row over Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws in school continues, a high-school graduate’s moving commencement speech to work around censorship has taken social media by storm. By replacing gay for “curly hair”, Zander Moricz’s graduation speech has left people in awe and drew nationwide attention to his fight for the LGBTQIA+ community.
Taking to stage Sunday, Moricz’s speech about the law proponents dubbed the “Parental Rights in Education Act”, which bans teachers and students from discussing their gender identity, went viral. The teenager, who is an openly gay class president, delivered a witty and evocative speech at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall in Sarasota without breaking the law but only bending it to have a greater impact.
“I must discuss a very public part of my identity. This characteristic has probably become the first thing you think of when you think of me as a human being,” he said. “As you know, I have curly hair,” Moricz said, taking off his tasselled cap on the stage at Osprey’s Pine View School for the Gifted.
“I used to hate my curls,” he continued. “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,” the 18-year-old said.
Earlier in May, Moricz, the youngest public plaintiff in the lawsuit over Florida’s controversial law, had tweeted that his school’s principal had warned him that his microphone would be cut off at graduation if he referenced his activism in his speech.
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
When administration discovered that I was organizing a Say Gay walkout, they had all our posters ripped from the walls and told me to shut down the protest. They said they would send school security if I did not listen. (4/8)
— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) May 9, 2022
“There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View and they will not have one,” he underlined in his speech. “Instead, they’ll try to fix themselves so that they can exist in Florida’s humid climate,” he quipped, making his point clear.
Known for his activism and fighting spirit against the law, Moricz ended his speech by encouraging others to use their power to fight back. His intelligent speech was only met with applause, cheering at the venue but even on the internet.
“Justice & injustice exist under our authority…When you waste your power what you’re doing is giving it to whoever already has the most. And right now those with the most power are coming for those with the least.”
Please watch. Thank you @zandermoricz https://t.co/ymeyTwOHFq— Glennon Doyle (@GlennonDoyle) May 24, 2022
florida high school class president zander moricz was told by his school that they would cut his microphone if he said “gay” in his grad speech, so he replaced gay with “having curly hair.” i am in awe pic.twitter.com/OqLbar5bwq
— matt (@mattxiv) May 24, 2022
Agreed! And his word play using “humid climate” & “straighten curls” drove the point home even more. Poetry!
— ocular patdown (@LveLks4Space2Be) May 24, 2022
Wow. I am so moved by his speech, in awe of how brave he is to make a stand despite the restrictions they placed on him. His wit in addressing the constraint and making others understand its cost to him is to be commended and shared.
— Milenaac (@milenaac) May 24, 2022
wow. he did amazing at getting around it but it is disgusting that hes being censored
— Gray (@rainygray249) May 24, 2022
This made me cry. So lovely and so smart and so heartbreaking that in 2022 he has to resort to this. Zander, you are a beautiful human being.
— Iris Rainer Dart 🇺🇦🌈 (@IrisRainerDart) May 24, 2022
Revealing Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law for what it truly is:
An effort to ensure that Florida’s gay and trans kids don’t ever, not even for a moment, get to feel normal. https://t.co/0pl33iGiCG
— Jon Cryer (@MrJonCryer) May 25, 2022
And with young people like Zander the bigots will never win. A sharp, elegant, witty, heartbreaking yet profoundly life affirming speech. I am in awe#SayGay https://t.co/ZQgLE5yzgt
— Con O’Neill (@cononeilluk) May 25, 2022
Please listen and then remember we have a party who has labeled florida as the freedom state. You are only free if you agree with the state. https://t.co/Cexmfkc0pB
— Joe Banner (@JoeBanner13) May 25, 2022
This is such a mix of emotions for me to hear. A) This guy is a genius and amazing and inspiring and a legend. B) How SAD that this speech even has to be made. They’d cut his mic if he said “gay” in his grad speech. We have a long ass way to go and it’s EFFING exhausting. #PRIDE https://t.co/V6j7rSyBOk
— Dan MacDonald (@danmac800) May 25, 2022
No, you’re crying. https://t.co/dqyHT167Sf
— Alex Andreou (@sturdyAlex) May 25, 2022
I have nothing but awe & admiration for Zander
Yet sad for a world who make him do this too
Watch 🤩🥰 https://t.co/fKoxLLLfiN
— Partha Kar 🇮🇳 🇬🇧🎥🏏🐶 (@parthaskar) May 25, 2022
Wow wow wow wow wow. https://t.co/z18Gitqfo5
— Tara Slone (@TaraSlone) May 25, 2022
“I knew that the threat to cut the mic was very real, so I wasn’t going to let that happen and I just had to be clever about it,” Moricz told Good Morning America. “But I shouldn’t have had to be because I don’t exist in a euphemism and I deserve to be celebrated as is.”
Moricz, who will be attending Harvard University in the fall, told the news outlet that Florida law is designed to make schools unsafe for LGBTQ+ people.
