Pete Buttigieg sends letter to gay teenager after his amazing speech
US transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg has sent a heartwarming letter to a teenage gay activist who went viral for his graduation speech calling out homophobic censorship in his home state of Florida.
Zander Moricz went viral in May for delivering the speech at his graduation. The openly gay student had earlier led student protest walkouts against Florida’s so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law at his school in the state.
The homophobic “Don’t Say Gay” law bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms across the state.
Before the graduation speech, the gay teenager claimed his principal had banned him from mentioning the “Don’t Say Gay” bill or the student protests against it during the address.
So the student found a workaround: he substituted his curly hair as a euphemism instead of using the word “gay”. The graduating student’s speech subsequently gained worldwide attention.
Zander Moricz has also joined a major lawsuit to fight the law in Florida.
Zander Moricz’s speech ‘reverberated across the country’
This week, the teenager shared on Twitter that he’d received a personal letter from Buttigieg, thanking Moricz for his “voice and advocacy”.
“After Chasten and I saw your graduation speech earlier this year and heard about your appearance at the Department of Education, I wanted to be sure to personally thank you for your voice and advocacy,” Buttigieg wrote.
“Your combination of wit and courage has reverberated across the country in ways that will benefit people you’ll never even meet.”
Pete Buttigieg went on to say he was “mindful” his service as the first openly gay Cabinet Secretary was only possible thanks to the “activism and advocacy” of those before him.
“There is no doubt that your example will open doors for many others who now look up to you, even as you are just starting your own path forward following your graduation.
“Congratulations on distinguishing yourself so well already.”
Moricz thanked Buttigieg for his letter on Twitter, saying the “fight for Florida has only begun”.
Pete Buttigieg slams ‘dangerous’ Don’t Say Gay bill in Florida
The anti-LGBTQ+ so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation was signed into law by Republican governor Ron DeSantis in March.
Moricz is one of several plaintiffs in a lawsuit against it, which slams the legislation as an “unlawful attempt to stigmatize, silence and erase LGBTQ+ people in Florida’s public schools”.
In February, Pete Buttigieg also condemned the bill as dangerous because it sends a false message to queer kids that there is “something wrong with them”.
He also warned it would have a detrimental effect on LGBTQ+ youths’ mental health.
“And the reason is that it tells youth who are different or whose families are different that there’s something wrong with them out of the gate,” he told CNN.
“I do think that contributes to the shocking levels of suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts among LGBTQ youth.”
He added it should be appropriate for a kid of any age to be able to discuss their “mom and mom or dad and dad or whatever family structure” they live with.
“That’s part of what it means to be pro-family, is to be pro-every family,” he said.
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