Is There a “Gay Voice”? | The New Yorker

gay in speech

The class print at a Florida high school says he wasn’t allowed to share his experience as a gay stunt his graduatn speech or how the state’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” law will affect stunts like him, so he got creative.

Contents:

A FLORIDA CLASS PRINT ULDN’T DISCS BEG GAY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATN SPEECH – SO HE TALKED ABOUT HIS CURLY HAIR

The class print at a Florida high school says he wasn’t allowed to share his experience as a gay stunt his graduatn speech or how the state’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” law will affect stunts like him, so he talked about somethg else that mak him a ltle different om his classmat – his curly hair. * gay in speech *

The class print at a Florida high school says he wasn’t allowed to share his experience as a gay stunt his graduatn speech or how the state’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” law will affect stunts like him, so he talked about somethg else that mak him a ltle different om his classmat – his curly hair. Senr Class Print Zanr Moricz was tapped wh givg a mencement speech at Pe View School Osprey, Fla., but was given a rtrictn not normally attached to such an openly gay activist who is the youngt platiff a lawsu agast a new state law that rtricts what teachers n say class about genr and sexual orientatn, the teenager said publicly that he had been warned by his prcipal not to mentn his activism or say the word “gay.

The law go to effect July platiffs the lawsu allege that the law harms LGBTQ stunts and fai and vlat their First Amendment right to eedom of speech, as well as their nstutnal right to equal protectn unr the n watch Moricz’s speech here:florida high school class print zanr moricz was told by his school that they would cut his microphone if he said “gay” his grad speech, so he replaced gay wh “havg curly hair.

But so dog, v everyone to thk about what their own voice says about who they are, where they me om, and where they want to science of “the gay voice”To start wh, the stereotypil “gay voice” isn’t necsarily a study published 2003, Ron Smyth, a lguist at the Universy of Toronto, found that participants readily separated rerdgs of 25 diverse voic to those who “sound gay” and those who “sound straight. In Smyth's study, people rrectly gused a man’s sexualy about 60 percent of the time, only a ltle better than another small study at the Universy of Hawaii, both gay and straight listeners were equally as likely to misclassify people as gay or straight. In fact, the straight men wh so-lled gay voic weren't aware that people thought they sound gay at turns out that what most people perceive as a stereotypil "gay voice" is jt a male voice that sounds more stereotypilly feme -- maly, higher pched and more melod.

IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?

Michael Schulman on “Do I Sound Gay?,” a documentary by David Thorpe that explor how vol nc are associated wh sexualy. * gay in speech *

If you've ever found yourself talkg to someone wh a different accent and gradually emulatg them, you're faiar wh the gay men, adoptg what's lled "mp" -- a theatril gay accent, like an old-school starlet -- n be a way of embracg their inty. However, the difference wasn’t the stereotypil “gay voice, ” but a tenncy to e a more ntemporary, pan-Amerin accent, rather than the old-fashned Mnota accent (like  the movie “Fargo") says that the gay men he terviewed may have wanted to nvey an inty that is more stylish and cuttg edge.

” shows that even men who are out and proud may still rry wh them some shame about havg a stereotypil “gay voice, ” even if those feelgs are Savage, a gay activist and thor, argu  the film that this is a natural nsequence of boys beg bullied for walkg and talkg a certa way when they are young. As Thorpe pots out the film, there have long been public entertaers or artists wh stereotypilly “gay voic” – Liberace or Tman Capote, for example -- but few people openly talked about their when characters wh “gay” mannerisms or voic appeared popular culture, they were sometim d wh negative or sid the 1940s on, Amerin film saw the rise of a sni, supercil, and vaguely gay villa, startg wh the manipulative Clifton Webb the tective noir film “Lra.

” That tradn of the effete, aristocratic villa has lived example, film historian Richard Barrs argu  the film that many of the Disney villas have simperg voic or mannerisms that are subtly – or not so subtly – stereotypilly gay, cludg Prce John "Rob Hood, " Sr "The Ln Kg, " and many more, In an terview, Thorpe poted out what he viewed as one particularly egreg example – the bad guy the 2012 Disney animated film “Wreck-It Ralph. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA supposed requt for a webse for a same-sex weddg played a mor role a major clash between ee speech and gay rights at the Supreme Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex Jiang for The New York TimAfter the Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex marriag, crics of the cisn raised qutns about a form clud urt papers the se that appeared to show that a gay uple had sought the servic of the signer, Lorie man who supposedly submted the form said he was unaware of s existence until a reporter for The New Republic lled him.

TOLD NOT TO SAY ‘GAY’ GRADUATN SPEECH, HE MA HIS POT ANYWAY

A Florida high school graduate says he was told not to say "gay" his graduatn speech. So he said "curly hair" stead. * gay in speech *

I then quantatively analyzed the speakers’ e and/or avoidance of phoic variabl (cludg var vowels and quali of /s/) that have been shown to be perceptually and/or productively salient gay male speech or regnal dialectology Southern New Hampshire. The first was that the speakers’ /s/ was signifintly “gayer soundg” the readg task than the terview and when talkg about beg gay than not, showg an iologil lk (at least for the speakers) between “gay soundg” speech and “proper” speech the readg tasks.

His prcipal, Stephen Covert, had warned him agast discsg his gay inty and LGBTQ+ activism while speakg agast graduatn light of Florida's recently adopted "don't say gay" law, which rtricts school-sponsored mentn of sexual orientatn and genr inty.

WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

What the way we talk says about gay pri and lgerg prejudice * gay in speech *

A Sarasota County high school stunt — and one of the platiffs a lawsu agast what crics ll the 'Don't Say Gay' law — says he has been told to keep his activism out of his graduatn law, formally tled "Parental Rights Edutn, " was passed by the Florida Legislature and signed to law by Gov. "READ MORE: A Sarasota stunt fears the so-lled 'Don't Say Gay' law will harm LGBTQ kids' school experienceIn a statement, the Sarasota County School district says that schools review expectatns and guil for speech, as well as stunts' speech. "Opn: Three generatns later, LGBTQ children still need supportIn se you missed :LGBTQ groups, parents file feral lawsu opposg Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' lawMoricz is the youngt platiff a lawsu agast Florida's parental rights and tn law, often referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, and has been outspoken his opposn to and how would affect his speech, he didn't say "gay" once.

The film is stctured around his personal qut to get rid of his “gay voice”—recently sgle and middle-aged, David Thorpe began to fd his voice a source of anxiety, worryg turned off potential lovers—which grounds what uld otherwise have been a disparate web of amic theori and talkg heads. That spurred him to look more systematilly at the gay voice self; eventually he realized he’d found somethg signifint to say about the subject, a talogue of people reflectg about the history, prevalence, signifince, and science of the voice ’s clear om his enthiasm and breadth of knowledge that Thorpe, a wrer wh an quisive personaly and a voice I found entirely pleasant, has enough material for a whole seri on the subject.

Admtg that a roomful of gay voic n be annoyg giv space to pick apart anxieti—which parts are jt annoyance at other people’s nversatns, and which are tied to toxic the film velops, be apparent that much of what we intify as a gay voice is a characteristilly feme voice spoken by a man. To prove his pot, Thorpe shows a straight man who was raised on an ashram by a group of women, who talks a voice that would tonate most people’s gaydar; but he also troduc to a gay man raised the suburbs wh five macho brothers who has the sort of voice that porn actors strive for.

HIGH SCHOOL GRAD ULDN’T SAY ‘GAY’ SPEECH, SO HE DID THIS STEAD

* gay in speech *

He had been warned not to speak about his experience as a gay stunt, but he found a workaround by g his hair as a metaphor, WWSB Moricz, the senr class print of Pe View School for the Gifted, wanted to e his graduatn speech Sunday to speak about his experience as a gay stunt or cricize Florida Hoe Bill 1557, lled “Parental Rights Edutn” but lloquially known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Wh this bate, Vasilovsky (2018) cricized gaydar rearch for nceptualizg sexual orientatn cu mostly as “static” and “nate” rather than as “dynamic” munitn addrs this cricism, we foc here on a cue that may have some relatively stable featur, but that is also known to be open to modulatn, namely voice.

We will exame whether voice is a fixed enty and whether gay and straight speakers modulate their voic strategilly or spontaneoly le wh their munitive tent and wh the social ntext, so as to eher emphasize or mimize their sexual orientatn. When judged on the basis of voice alone, gay speakers are generally perceived as (relatively) ls heterosexual than straight speakers, but they still tend to be systematilly misclassified as heterosexual, suggtg that heterosexualy is the flt rponse (Smyth et al., 2003; Sulpiz et al., 2015, 2020; see Lick & Johnson, 2016, for this straight tegorizatn bias) lerature has also examed the actual atic cu that distguish gay and straight speech styl.

THIS GAY NGRSMAN JT BLASTED HIS LLEAGU A FIERY SPEECH AND THE TER IS L

A supposed requt for a webse for a same-sex weddg played a mor role a major clash between ee speech and gay rights at the Supreme Court. * gay in speech *

Overall, the lerature nfirms that some voice characteristics are stereotypilly associated wh homosexualy and/or femy/masculy (see Kachel, Simpson, & Steffens, 2017; Kachel et al., 2018b) and that listeners are not only fluenced by actual atic differenc but also rely on stereotypil cu when formg an imprsn of the speaker (Munson, Crocker, Pierrehumbert, Owen-Anrson, & Zucker, 2015) few exceptns, rearch on dory gaydar has nceptualized gay and straight voice as a relatively stable characteristic of the speaker and, hence, has foced on habual ways of speakg. Rearch on sexual orientatn modulatn (Ambady & Hallahan, 2002; Sylva, Rieger, Lsenmeier, & Bailey, 2010) has shown that gay dividuals are able to exaggerate and partially nceal their sexualy, pecially if they are not a gnively mandg suatn (Sylva et al., 2010). Th, prr rearch has foced on variatn between rather than wh speakers, although there are a few notable has been suggted that gay speakers may specifilly mimize or emphasize the stereotypil atic cu scribed above to nceal or signal their sexual orientatn (Kachel et al., 2018a; Zwicky, 1997; see also Zimman, 2013).

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE

The study of gay male speech has largely foced on fundamental equency and var quantifiable aspects of /s/ (Campbell-Kibler 2012, Mack and Munson 2012, Munson 2007, Zimman 2013). In a study of the speech of three gay men om California, however, Posva (2011) nclus that gay men may utilize salient aspects of regnal dialects to exprs their gayns. The stylistic rrelatn between gayns and certa regnal dialects supports Eckert’s (2008) argument that lguistic styl are centered around iologi, rather than rigid tegoril inti and Posva (2011) urg that this phenomenon be studied further. Southern New Hampshire provis an ial landspe to further this study, as the regn and s dialect have unrgone signifint lguistic and iologil chang recent s (Stanford et al 2012, Nagy 2001). The current work exam the lguistic relatnship between gayns and Southern New Hampshire iologi the speech of two 22-year-old gay men who grew up Rockgham County, New Hampshire. I then quantatively analyzed the speakers’ e and/or avoidance of phoic variabl (cludg var vowels and quali of /s/) that have been shown to be perceptually and/or productively salient gay male speech or regnal dialectology Southern New Hampshire. The analysis found two signifint fdgs. The first was that the speakers’ /s/ was signifintly “gayer soundg” the readg task than the terview and when talkg about beg gay than not, showg an iologil lk (at least for the speakers) between “gay soundg” speech and “proper” speech the readg tasks. The send was that both speakers monstrated a signifintly unmerged LOT/THOUGHT, which is a salient feature of the New York Cy dialect and superses Southern New Hampshire dialect norms. Both monstrate that social inty is a plex and multi-layered phenomenon. * gay in speech *

Crist (1997) observed a systematic lengtheng of (some) onset nsonants when four gay and two straight speakers were asked to read a text a “queeny” (flamboyantly effemate), rather than an “ordary, ” voice, suggtg that both straight and gay men were able to modify their voic. The only exceptn to this is reprented by a study showg that gay men dislikg the ia of soundg gay avoid engagg gay stereotypil speech and, th, were ually perceived as heterosexual (Mann, 2012) is some evince that gay dividuals may, to some gree, be able to nceal their sexual orientatn, but only when talkg about general topics (Sylva et al., 2010).

Th, remas to be seen whether gay speakers modulate their voic pendg on ntext and terlocutor and whether such voice modulatn is succsful exprsg or ncealg sexual and Overview of RearchIn le wh the ia that voice signals social tegory membership (Posva & Callier, 2015), our voice sexual orientatn modulatn hypothis poss that speakers flexibly adopt stereotypilly gay/lbian vs. As a nsequence, speech styl signalg a gay tegory membership should maly be adopted wh people who are aware of the speaker’s sexual orientatn and who had reacted posively to their g out (Lville, 1998; Munson & Babel, 2007), but gay speakers may mimic straight speech styl wh unaware or unacceptg teractn vtigate whether gay speakers spontaneoly modulate their voic to reveal or disguise their sexual orientatn, we nducted a simulated nversatn study which gay men imaged talkg to terlocutors wh whom they had e out easily, wh difficulty, or had not me out at all.

In le wh our voice modulatn hypothis, we hypothized that the voic of gay speakers will sound more gay when talkg to others wh whom they had easily e out than when talkg to people wh whom they had not e out or wh whom they have had a difficult disclosure experienc. Gay speakers were asked to image to talk to (1) a receiver wh whom they had not e out and wh whom they would not feel fortable to e out (no g out), (2) a receiver wh whom they had e out and who had reacted a posive way (easy g out), and (3) a receiver wh whom they had e out but who had reacted a negative way (difficult g out). After listeng to each rerdg, participants were asked to rate the speaker’s voice by pletg a measure of voice genr typily (om 1 = pletely feme to 7 = pletely mascule) and of voice gayns (om 1 = pletely heterosexual to 7 = pletely homosexual), after havg listened to the three rerdgs, participants gused the speaker’s sexual orientatn (om 1 = pletely heterosexual to 7 = pletely homosexual, wh the sle midpot labeled “bisexual”).

A SARASOTA STUNT SAYS HE N'T DISCS 'DON'T SAY GAY' HIS GRADUATN SPEECH

Zanr Moricz was barred om sayg "gay" his graduatn speech, but he got around the prohibn a creative manner. * gay in speech *

In le wh prev studi on dory gaydar (Sulpiz et al., 2015, 2020; Valentova & Havlíček, 2013) and on the straight tegorizatn bias (Lick & Johnson, 2016), sexual orientatn means were overall low and below the midpot of the sle for both gay and straight speakers (all ts < − 5. The gay speakers’ voic sound more gay and more genr atypil to the ears of our listeners when speakers simulated an teractn wh an terlocutor who had reacted posively to their g out than when the teractn volved someone who was unaware of their sexualy. To le out this possibily, we nducted a send study that allowed to vtigate voice modulatn as a functn of g out, while holdg dience characteristics orr to exame whether voice modulatn gay men is a specific nsequence of g out, gay speakers Study 2 were teractg wh the same dience, namely the general public.

THIS FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STUNT WASN’T ALLOWED TO SAY GAY HIS GRADUATN SPEECH

The senr class print was warned not to speak about his experience as a gay stunt or cricize the state's “Don’t Say Gay” law durg his graduatn speech. * gay in speech *

G., sentenc read out loud), this method gave the possibily to exame listeners’ perceptn based on spontaneo expected that the voic of gay speakers would sound ls genr typil and more gay after than before g out, but no differenc over time were predicted for the straight speakers (Hypothis 1). Th, this study allowed to further exame the ia that voice is not a stable marker of sexual orientatn, but a flexible inty management vice, ed by gay speakers to strategilly (although not necsarily liberately) disclose or disguise their sexual orientatn. After listeng to each d rerdg, participants pleted the voice genr typily and voice gayns measur and gused the speaker’s sexual orientatn on the same 7-pot sl of Study, participants gused how many different speakers they had listened to (om 1 to 10) and dited whether they had regnized any of them as someone they knew.

'CURLY HAIR' BE FOR GAY FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL GRAD SPEECH AFTER SENR SAYS HE WAS CENSORED

Zanr Moricz, a Florida high school senr, says he was threatened by school officials if he mentned the “Don’t Say Gay” bill his graduatn speech. * gay in speech *

As shown Table 1, straight speakers’ voic were perceived as creasgly genr typil over time, whereas an oppose trend was observed for gay speakers, whose voic sound ls genr typil after than before g 1 Mean (SD) of voice genr atypily, voice gayns, and perceived sexual orientatn as a functn of speaker sexual orientatn and time (Study 2)Full size tableOverall, the voic of both gay and straight speakers across ndns were perceived as rather genr typil (ts > 13. 1 (top) and Table 1, and le wh Hypothis 1, the voic of gay speakers were perceived as more gay after than before g out, whereas the oppose pattern was found for straight 1Means of perceived voice gayns (top) and speaker sexual orientatn (bottom) as a functn of time (Study 2). Note Higher valu mean greater gayns of voice (middle) and greater gayns of speaker (bottom), all asssed on sl om 1 to 7Full size imageIntertgly, the three-way teractn between speaker sexual orientatn, time, and listener sexual orientatn was signifint, F(2, 602) = 4.

Regardls of time, straight speakers were always perceived as clearly straight (that is below the sle midpot), whereas gay speakers were perceived as clearly gay soundg and on the “gay” si of the ntuum (that is signifintly above the sle midpot) only after their g out.

WHAT DO IT MEAN TO SOUND GAY?

In eher se, the fact that the voic of gay speakers velop the oppose directn be even more also found that heterosexual listeners perceived a change over time how gay the speakers sound, whereas sexual mori perceived gay speakers nsistently as gay soundg. It also supports the ia that gaydar has an “adaptive” functn (Shelp, 2003), allowg gay dividuals to munite their sexual different voice and listeners sampl (English and Italian), settgs, and methodologi, our studi provi evince that gay speakers adjt their speech styl flexibly as a functn of their stage of g out, speakg more typilly “gay” wh teractn partners whom they have e out wh and who have reacted posively (Study 1a and 1b) or after a public g out (Study 2).

Our fdg that gay speakers flexibly adjt their speech styl pendg on their stage of g out nfirms Eckert’s (2012) claim that lguistic styl do not statilly reflect the speaker’s social inty, but that this inty is actively nstcted teractn wh others. The fact that straight speakers also modulated their voic pendg on the terlocutor (Study 1) and over time (Study 2) suggts that they e voice as a tool to munite their heterosexualy prumably to avoid misclassifitn or to safeguard their heterosexual reputatn (Bosson et al., 2006; Fasoli et al., 2018) le wh the lerature (Smyth et al., 2003; Sulpiz et al., 2015), we also found that, although listeners distguish gay and straight speakers and their voic relative terms, they have a strong tenncy to misclassify gay speakers as straight.

FLA. CLASS PRINT TOLD HE ULDN’T SPEAK ABOUT BEG GAY HAIR METAPHOR

In that stance, listeners may feel ‘allowed’ to tegorize the speaker as gay whout nng the risk of puttg him harmful a sendary aim, we also vtigated the relative importance of genr-atypil sound producg the imprsn that the speaker was gay. The chang we observed our studi may reflect the importance for speakers to be perceived as both genr typil and heterosexual, possibly bee of ternalized homophobia gay men (see Hunt, Morandi, Dar-Nimrod, & Barlow, 2020) and stat ncerns straight men (Fasoli et al., 2018). A Florida high school stunt who is openly gay is speakg out after he says he was subjected to censorship by school officials if he mentned the state’s “Parental Rights Edutn” law, also lled the “Don’t Say Gay” law by crics, his graduatn Moricz, a senr and the print of his graduatg class at Pe View School Osprey, Florida, claimed he was beg “silenced” a Twter thread two weeks ago.

”Moricz is also one of the youngt platiffs a lawsu filed agast the state of Florida over the “Parental Rights Edutn” 18-year-old told "Good Morng Ameri" he was worried ahead of the speech but felt supported by his fellow classmat and peers, some of whom wore “Say Gay” stickers and stood up and cheered durg his speech Sunday. Poilievre tells T to 'butt out' of New Bnswick's policy on LGBTQ stuntsPoilievre wish Canadians a happy Pri month — but won't say if he'll attend an eventThe "straight pri" movement has emerged recent years as a backlash agast growg social acceptance of gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr and other sexually diverse Pri paras are held around the world throughout the summer months. They mark the June 1969 Stonewall rt, when gay bar patrons fought back agast a police crackdown — a pivotal moment wily seen as the start of morn gay rights paras are meant to celebrate a muny that has endured generatns of opprsn and events have taken on new promence at a time when some jurisdictns, notably the U.

FLORIDA STUNT FDS CLEVER WAY TO SHRED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW IN GRADUATN SPEECH

Print Obama ed the ocsn to make the first direct reference to gay-rights an Ingural Addrs, and he did so wh a power and forthrightns we have not heard before, even om two-thirds of the way to the speech, Obama referred to Stonewall, a gay bar where, 1969, a police raid provoked a rt, the same sentence as Sene Falls and Selma—th parg the women’s and Ain-Amerin civil-rights movements to the gay-rights stggle.

Had he stopped there, would have been historic—particularly g om the first Ain-Amerin Print—but, keepg wh the tradn of policians who refer to gay-rights obliquely or wh words, stoppg short of the Print ntued:Our journey is not plete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else unr the law—for if we are tly created equal, then surely the love we m to one another mt be equal as only was this a ll to end discrimatn, but an unambiguo argument for the regnn of same-sex marriage across the untry.

GAY VOICE: STABLE MARKER OF SEXUAL ORIENTATN OR FLEXIBLE COMMUNITN DEVICE?

SHOP SUAL WGIRL-SPIRED OUTFS FOR FALLOPEN MENUVIOSHOPCULTUREFAYWELLNSFOODLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICYYOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTSCHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICYINTERT-BASED ADSTERMS OF USEDO NOT SELL MY INFOCONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCHNEWSFLORIDA HIGH SCHOOLER WHO SAYS HE WAS CENSORED GRADUATN SPEECH SPEAKS OUT7:19FLORIDA STUNT ALLEG HE WAS TOLD NOT TO MENTN ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ LAW BYNILE CURTIS AND LRA ZACROMAY 23, 2022, 11:34 AM•4 M READA FLORIDA HIGH SCHOOL STUNT WHO IS OPENLY GAY IS SPEAKG OUT AFTER HE SAYS HE WAS SUBJECTED TO CENSORSHIP BY SCHOOL OFFICIALS IF HE MENTNED THE STATE’S “PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN” LAW, ALSO LLED THE “DON’T SAY GAY” LAW BY CRICS, HIS GRADUATN SPEECH.ZANR MORICZ, A SENR AND THE PRINT OF HIS GRADUATG CLASS AT PE VIEW SCHOOL OSPREY, FLORIDA, CLAIMED HE WAS BEG “SILENCED” A TWTER THREAD TWO WEEKS AGO. HE WROTE, “MY PRCIPAL LLED ME TO HIS OFFICE AND RMED ME THAT IF MY GRADUATN SPEECH REFERENCED MY ACTIVISM OR ROLE AS A PLATIFF THE LAWSU, SCHOOL ADMISTRATN HAD A SIGNAL TO CUT OFF MY MICROPHONE, END MY SPEECH, AND HALT THE CEREMONY.”MORICZ IS ALSO ONE OF THE YOUNGT PLATIFFS A LAWSU FILED AGAST THE STATE OF FLORIDA OVER THE “PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN” LAW.THE 18-YEAR-OLD TOLD "GOOD MORNG AMERI" HE WAS WORRIED AHEAD OF THE SPEECH BUT FELT SUPPORTED BY HIS FELLOW CLASSMAT AND PEERS, SOME OF WHOM WORE “SAY GAY” STICKERS AND STOOD UP AND CHEERED DURG HIS SPEECH SUNDAY.“THERE WAS A LOT OF HATE AND A LOT OF FEAR SURROUNDG THE SPEECH ABOUT WHAT PEOPLE WERE GOG TO DO IF SOMEONE WAS GOG TO REACT POORLY BEE WAS REALLY PRENT THE MUNY -- THAT HATRED AND THAT FEAR -- AND SO I WAS WORRIED AND I KNEW THAT THERE WAS A POTENTIAL TO CUT THE MIC," HE TOLD "GOOD MORNG AMERI" MONDAY."TO HAVE A STANDG OVATN LIKE THAT AND A RPONSE LIKE THAT OM ALL OF THE PEOPLE WAS AMAZG,” HE SAID. "IT WAS REALLY A GREAT FALE FOR FOUR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL."EDOR’S PICKSLAWSU FILED AGAST FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW WH DAYS OF SIGNGMAR 31, 2022'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAWMAR 30, 2022FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAWMAR 28, 2022MORE: DO AMERINS SUPPORT FLORIDA'S NEW PARENTAL RIGHTS TN LAW?MORICZ, AN OUTSPOKEN ADVOTE FOR LGBTQ RIGHTS, REFERRED TO HIS "CURLY HAIR" AS A PHEMISM FOR BEG GAY HIS SPEECH.“THIS CHARACTERISTIC HAS PROBABLY BEE THE FIRST THG YOU THK OF WHEN YOU THK OF ME AS A HUMAN BEG. AS YOU KNOW, I HAVE CURLY HAIR,” MORICZ SAID HIS SPEECH.“THERE ARE GOG TO BE SO MANY KIDS WH CURLY HAIR WHO NEED A MUNY LIKE PE VIEW AND THEY WILL NOT HAVE ONE. INSTEAD, THEY’LL TRY TO FIX THEMSELV SO THAT THEY N EXIST FLORIDA’S HUMID CLIMATE,” HE NTUED.MORE: TEACHERS SPEAK OUT AS FLORIDA’S 'DON’T SAY GAY' BILL HEADS TO DESANTIS' SKSEEMG TO TRY TO WALK A FE LE BETWEEN FOLLOWG THE LAW AND ALLOWG MORICZ TO LIVER HIS SPEECH AS CLASS PRINT, PE VIEW SCHOOL APPROVED HIS PHEMISM-LAN REMARKS ADVANCE.IN A STATEMENT RELEASED BEFORE GRADUATN, THE SCHOOL SAID PART: “STUNTS ARE REMD THAT A GRADUATN SHOULD NOT BE A PLATFORM FOR PERSONAL POLIL STATEMENTS … SHOULD A STUNT VARY OM THIS EXPECTATN DURG THE GRADUATN, MAY BE NECSARY TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTN.”MORICZ SAID HAVG TO MODIFY HIS GRADUATN SPEECH WAS MORE THAN JT DISAPPOTG.“IT WAS A REALLY HUMANIZG CISN BEE I HAD TO TAKE SOMETHG I HAD WRTEN AND ... I HAD TO FD A WAY TO BE CLEVER TO DISCS WHO I WAS,” HE SAID. "BEE THE DISTRICT AFFIRMED THAT THEY SUPPORTED ACTN IF I BROUGHT UP THE LAWSU OR THE ADVOCY AROUND , I KNEW THAT THE THREAT TO CUT THE MIC WAS VERY REAL, SO I WASN'T GOG TO LET THAT HAPPEN AND I JT HAD TO BE CLEVER ABOUT . BUT I SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO BE BEE I DON'T EXIST A PHEMISM AND I SERVE TO BE CELEBRATED AS IS.”MORICZ’S ATTORNEY, ROBERTA KAPLAN, CLAIMS THE “PARENTAL RIGHTS EDUTN” LAW WAS WRTEN TO BE OVERLY BROAD AND OPEN-END ON PURPOSE.“ZANR WAS CENSORED AND HE SHOULDN’T HAVE HAD TO CENSOR HIMSELF AND NOT BE ABLE TO TALK ABOUT WHO HE REALLY IS AT HIS MENCEMENT SPEECH," KAPLAN TOLD "GMA." “THIS IS JT THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG. THE LAW SELF WAS LIBERATELY WRTEN TO BE AS VAGUE AND AS BROAD AS POSSIBLE. SO WHAT YOU GET IS WHAT YOU SAW WH ZANR AND OBVLY APPLI TO MENCEMENT. WE SAW THAT JT YTERDAY, AND APPLI MANY, MANY OTHER CIRCUMSTANC.”MORICZ CREDS ONE OF HIS TEACHERS FOR HELPG HIM E OUT AS A YOUNG TEENAGER AND SAID THE LAW WOULD PREVENT OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE OM FEELG SAFE AND PROTECTED TO DO SO.“WHAT THIS LAW DO IS, EFFECTIVELY TAK AWAY THE ONLY GUARANTEED SAFE SPACE OM THE MAJORY OF THE ENTIRE LGBTQ POPULATN HERE," HE SAID. "THAT'S HORRIFYG BEE WHAT YOU THEN HAVE IS SO MANY CHILDREN BEG FORCED TO MAKE THE CHOICE BETWEEN G OUT UNSAFELY OR NOT G OUT AT ALL.”MORICZ SAID HE PLANS ON ADVOTG FOR THE LGBTQ+ MUNY AND IS STUDYG ERNMENT AT HARVARD UNIVERSY THE FALL."I'M GOG TO BE NCENTRATG ERNMENT SO I N TRY AND FIX THE SAME PROBLEMS I'M TRYG TO FIX NOW,” HE SAID.EDOR’S PICKSLAWSU FILED AGAST FLORIDA'S SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAW WH DAYS OF SIGNGMAR 31, 2022'WHAT PARENTS ARE THEY SUPPORTG?': MOMS SPEAK OUT AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' LAWMAR 30, 2022FLORIDA ERNOR SIGNS NTROVERSIAL 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL TO LAWMAR 28, 2022UP NEXT NEWS—FLORIDA WOMAN REVERG OM STGRAY ATTACK SHAR EXPERIENCE AFTER CLOSE LLAUGT 29, 2023SPANISH SOCCER STAR LEARNS OF FATHER'S ATH AFTER WNG WOMEN'S WORLD CUPAUGT 21, 2023UBER ANNOUNC DONATN TO SUPPORT MI FIRE RELIEFAUGT 17, 2023MI STRONG: CHARI TO DIRECTLY SUPPORT WILDFIRE RELIEF EFFORTSAUGT 17, 2023UP NEXT NEWS—FLORIDA WOMAN REVERG OM STGRAY ATTACK SHAR EXPERIENCE AFTER CLOSE LLAUGT 29, 2023SPANISH SOCCER STAR LEARNS OF FATHER'S ATH AFTER WNG WOMEN'S WORLD CUPAUGT 21, 2023UBER ANNOUNC DONATN TO SUPPORT MI FIRE RELIEFAUGT 17, 2023MI STRONG: CHARI TO DIRECTLY SUPPORT WILDFIRE RELIEF EFFORTSAUGT 17, 2023

WATCH: INFANTO REFERENC FAMO “I FEEL GAY” SPEECH

AMERI’S MOST IMPORTANT GAY-RIGHTS SPEECH?

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY IN SPEECH

Gay Voice: Stable Marker of Sexual Orientatn or Flexible Communitn Device? | SprgerLk .

TOP