FL’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Lawsuit Has Ties To Sarasota County Student

SARASOTA, FL — A Sarasota student is part of a lawsuit alleging that Florida’s new so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, which limits how gender identity and sexual orientation are discussed in the state's public school classrooms, is unconstitutional.

A Pine View School senior and LGBTQ advocate, Zander Moricz, is a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed March 31 against Gov. Ron DeSantis, Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran, the Florida Department of Education, the State Board of Education, and several local school boards in the state, including those in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

“I’ve always seen the potential in politics. I’ve always viewed it as a tool to give the people what they want and need,” Moricz said. “It’s been warped into something much uglier as a way to get power.”

The lawsuit alleges that the controversial bill, HB 1557, “harms LGBTQ people — and violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution — by discriminatorily censoring classroom instruction about sexual orientation or gender identity in Florida public schools, not only for grades K-3 but for any grade as long as someone concludes that the discussion is somehow not ‘age-appropriate,'" according to a news release from Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, which filed the suit on behalf of the plaintiffs. "The law deliberately employs broad and vague terms, inviting arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement by parents, who are designated as roving censors and empowered to sue local school boards for damages based on any violation.”

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For Moricz, it was an easy decision to join the suit. As Pine View’s first openly gay class president, the Harvard-bound student has always considered school to be a safe place where he could freely express himself and his identity.

The Parental Rights in Education bill, after passing both the state Senate and House, was signed into law by DeSantis at the end of March. Critics say the law is an attempt to ban LGBTQ topics and force teachers and students to conceal their sexuality. Activists say it sets a dangerous precedent.

Moricz has already seen the effects at Pine View, as some teachers have told him “they will no longer be able to have some of the classroom discussions that helped me feel accepted at school,” he said.

Calling the new law “horrifying,” the lawsuit is an opportunity to “grab back the reins of the political process,” he told Patch.

The 18-year-old has long been an advocate for both educational equity and LGBTQ issues.

Moricz began attending Pine View, a K-12 school, as a sixth grader. Before this, he went to a Manatee County school that “was majority minority students and had significantly less resources,” he said.

Even as a middle school student, he immediately saw the discrepancies between his previous school and Pine View, a mostly white school with fewer minority students, he said. “It was ridiculous to me.”

He started asking questions and talking to other students, sharing his thoughts on the inequities he witnessed, both in and out of school. And in high school, he founded the Social Equity and Education (SEE) Initiative, which has a goal of combatting prejudices, defending human rights, energizing young voters, and supporting progressive politicians and activists nationwide.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the group met with students from other Florida schools and organizations as part of a virtual lecture series, allowing them to further spread their mission and educate others.

In recent months, the organization has set its sights on stopping the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Locally, SEE worked with Project Pride SRQ and Equality Florida to host a March rally against the bill, attended by hundreds, at the John Ringling Bridge.

Moricz shared his experiences as an LGBT student and his thoughts about the bill at the event, which he also emceed. Around the same time, he traveled to Tallahassee, where he spoke before the state Senate, voicing his opposition to the measure.

Though he’s upset by the “objectively unconstitutional” law, he’s also never been more hopeful or clear about his own path in life.

The teen plans to study government at Harvard University and is looking to work in politics. In addition to his work with SEE, he’s also served as the Model United Nations president and debate team captain at Pine View.

He said his goal is to collaborate with other progressive leaders and advocates, using politics for the good of the people.

“I’m just so upset that politics is being used as a tool to oppress people,” Moricz said. “This is about empowering myself and empowering others.”

As for the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, he’ll continue to fight it, even after he leaves for college in the fall.

“The bill is not about parental rights. It’s about oppressing the LGBT community,” he said. “And we have to do everything we can.”

The legal team spearheading the lawsuit, Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP, worked with the National Center for Lesbian Rights to file it on behalf of the plaintiffs — several Florida students and their families, a teacher and the organizations Equality Florida and Family Equality.