Teen suing Florida over "Don't Say Gay Bill" visits Savannah for celebration of queer community

It's no surprise that the Hostess City of the South has welcomed someone by naming a weekend of celebration after him. Eighteen-year-old Zander Moricz, the youngest plaintiff in the lawsuit against Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, has made his way to Savannah to bring the city's queer community together for the Zander Weekend.

Sponsored by the First City Network and Savannah Pride Center, the weekend promises to be filled with dancing, food and conversations about how to support the LGBTQIA community in and around Savannah.

"I am happy to provide one of those moments where we can come together for happy positive reasons and talk, because I think that, too often, the queer community is brought together by difficult reasons, fights, hardships," Moricz said. "I think that it was a really exciting opportunity for the Savannah Pride Center to create something positive. it was an exciting opportunity for me to participate in something positive."

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Moricz found his voice in activism while attending Pine View High School in Osprey, Florida. As the first openly gay class president for four years and the leader of the Social Equity and Education Initiative in Florida, Moricz was at the forefront of a fight that largely affected young people, some of whom could not publicly speak out.

His voice was amplified when, in May, he sent out a Tweet asking for help from the public.

Days earlier, he'd been called into the office by his school's principal where he was told that his commencement speech would have to be censored with no mention of his LGBTQIA activism, queer identity and the bill that would prohibit teachers from speaking about LGBTQ issues with students of a certain age group.

Moricz's tweet went viral and he received waves of support from people all over the country, using a platform that has become a mainstay in youth activism. What was supposed to be a ban that quieted his activism, received national attention that drew attention to his fight without ever mentioning the bill.

On the day of his graduation, Moricz spoke of embracing his "curly hair." He received a standing ovation by the end of it.

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"I decided to use the metaphor about curly hair for two reasons. The first is that our queer community has a tradition of using coded words and phrases to communicate and form an identity, and I wanted to pay homage to other queer activists and fighters that have also had to overcome suppression and censorship, Moricz said.

"And then I also wanted to highlight that my sexuality, just like my curly hair, is a part of my human identity. It is a biological characteristic and it deserves to be treated as an objective, nonnegotiable part of who I am."

The Zander Weekend is the first of many community events in different cities that Moricz hopes to be a part of, and when it comes to youth activism, it's a responsibility he feels is necessary to fight for those who can not.

"When more and more policies and more and more politicians are targeting and attacking marginalized young people, it makes sense that young people are going to be leading the response behind that.

"I would just call attention to a lot of older organizers and adult-led organizations that are starting to gear up in response to this legislation. I would ask them to really think about where these attacks are going and start to platform and resource the people impacted, which is young people."

Laura Nwogu is the quality of life reporter for Savannah Morning News. Contact her at LNwogu@gannett.com. Twitter: @lauranwogu_

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Florida LGBTQ activist Zander Moricz hosts Zander Weekend in Savannah