Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Florida Teen Uses His 'Curly Hair' As A Euphemism For Being Gay In Defiant Graduation Speech

Florida Teen Uses His 'Curly Hair' As A Euphemism For Being Gay In Defiant Graduation Speech
Liz Ballard/YouTube

Pine View School 2022 class president Zander Moricz had to get rather creative with his graduation speech this week to avoid censorship. Moricz is Pine View's first openly gay class president, and school officials swore that they would cut off his microphone if he mentioned being gay or any of his LGBTQ+ activism during his speech.

Moricz's creative solution was to talk about his struggles as someone with curly hair—he never mentioned being gay at all. It was clear to the audience that he wasn't really talking about his hair, however.


Moricz is the youngest plaintiff in a suit against Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay Bill," officially called the "Parental Rights in Education" bill.

As such, school administration was aware of his activism and apparently decided that they needed to do everything they could to prevent him from using his platform as class president to speak out about politics.

Moricz tweeted on May 9th, just after his meeting with Pine View School's principal and being told that he would be silenced if he talked about his sexual orientation:




Moricz told ABC's Good Morning America on Monday:

"You don’t know how a very volatile and polarized community is going to respond, but it was amazing. I knew that the threat to cut the mic was very real, 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 his speech, Moricz told his graduating class and the audience all about how difficult it had been growing up with "curly hair," but that he eventually learned to love himself and navigate the world authentically.

"I used to hate my curls. 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 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 Moricz's full graduation speech below:

Zander Moricz Grad Speechyoutu.be


Many on Twitter congratulated Moricz for his clever way of circumventing the school's attempts to censor him.








Moricz admirably found a creative way to circumvent his school administration's promises to silence him, but how many other LGBTQ+ youth in Florida—and other states where lawmakers are working to pass laws discriminating against them—aren't able to get so creative? How many valuable youth voices are we, as a society, missing out on because they are unable to speak out because of the repercussions?

That is why Moricz felt it was so important to speak out the way he did, so that future "curly-haired" kids would be able to speak openly about their identiy.

More from Trending

Screenshots of Patrick Harvie and John Swinney
The National

Member Of Scotland's Parliament Brutally Calls Out Nation's Leader For Letter To Trump After Election

Patrick Harvie, a Member of Scottish Parliament who represents the Green Party, called out Scotland's First Minister John Swinney over a congratulatory letter he wrote to Donald Trump after Trump became the U.S. president-elect.

During a session of Parliament, Harvie called out Swinney directly over the deferential letter Swinney sent to Trump.

Keep ReadingShow less

People Explain Which Jobs Pay Surprisingly Well For Their Time And Effort

For a lot of people, work is just something that they have to do in order to pay the bills and to feel like a contributing member of society.

But there are some jobs out there that are genuinely enjoyable and pay well, and surprisingly, some of them pay well starting at the entry-level.

Keep ReadingShow less
JB Pritzker; Donald Trump
Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images; Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

Democratic Governor Warns Trump Not To 'Come For My People' In Impassioned Tweet

After Donald Trump was elected to a second term, Illinois Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker issued a warning to him and his supporters against compromising the "freedom" and "dignity" of his citizens.

Trump has famously pledged to round up millions of immigrants for mass detention and deportation, and Democratic governors like Pritzker are not having it.

Keep ReadingShow less
Moo Deng; Donald Trump
LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA/AFP via Getty Images, Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Viral Baby Hippo Moo Deng Correctly Predicted Trump's Election Win—And The Internet Is Pissed

Beloved baby hippo Moo Deng lost points with fans after she accurately predicted Republican President-elect Donald Trump's White House victory over his rival, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris on the eve of election day.

The adorable pygmy hippopotamus that won the hearts of the internet after being born at Thailand's Khao Kheow Open Zoo this summer was tasked to foretell the 2024 US election turnout by choosing between Trump and Harris.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel Live

Jimmy Kimmel Has An Emotional Warning For Trump Voters—And It Is Sadly On Point

Democrats experienced a major blow after twice-impeached former president and convicted felon Donald Trump became the President-elect as a result of the dramatic 2024 election.

As devastated and shocked voters who had expected Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris to become the first U.S. female President were left wondering how we got here, Jimmy Kimmel offered some insight with his usual mockery of Trump but not without issuing a sobering wake-up call for Trump supporters.

Keep ReadingShow less