People often ask me, “what gives you hope right now?” Let’s face it: it’s a fair question. So much about the current political climate in Florida is designed to demoralize LGBTQ people and leave us sapped of hope. Our governor has staked his future on terrorizing LGBTQ young people and their families, leading the charge on book banning, classroom censorship, denial of health care and making our state as hostile to them as possible. He has revived age-old anti-LGBTQ tropes, likening us to a contagious ideology and vowing to curb our spread. In totality, it is a strategy meant to drive us back into the darkest days of hiding from our family and friends, terrified of being seen for who we are.
So, it may come as no surprise that a new generation of leaders, a youthful resistance rising up to meet that bigotry head on, is what gives me hope. One such leader is blazing the path toward a better, more inclusive future right here in Central Florida: Will Larkins.
I met Will just a few blocks from the Florida Capitol. I was tucked into a restaurant booth, burying the emotional weight of the day in a plate full of soggy french fries, when Will approached the table. They were practically buzzing with defiant energy, undeterred by the toxic politics of the building down the street and laying out their plans to fight back with focused intensity. They were determined to see schools in Florida treat everyone with dignity and respect and content for anyone in earshot to know. Moments like those stand out above the numbing hum of politics because they’re real. Authentic. They inspire.
Not long after that, Will made good on their promise, leading a walkout at Winter Park High School that saw thousands of students — LGBTQ and allied — leave their classrooms to demand a stop to Don’t Say LGBTQ. That organizing action went viral, garnering millions of views across social media, as the student walkouts caught fire and spread across the state. Will Larkins, the 17-year-old high school student who boldly declared that they would be fighting back, was painting a vision of what’s possible in Florida right before our eyes.
Will’s work did not stop with a single walkout. In the months that followed, they penned a powerful New York Times opinion piece naming the inevitable harms of the Don’t Say LGBTQ law, appeared in documentary film projects, organized successful protests against book censorship policies at the Orange County School Board and went viral again, this time for donning a dazzling red dress and delivering a pitch-perfect lesson on the Stonewall Riots to their history class. At every turn, Will has been unwavering and undeterred in their insistence that we can do better — that we must do better.
At this year’s Equality Florida Greater Orlando Gala, I had the honor of granting the Youth Voice for Equality Award to Will. What struck me that night was not simply the chance to recognize Will’s incredible contributions from the stage, it was seeing how much hope they inspired in the faces at every table. In Will, they saw the future. They saw a Florida that is safer for and more inclusive of all people. They saw the unmatched potential of a new crop of leaders. They saw an audacious authenticity. They dared to imagine, some for perhaps the first time since the governor plunged our state into an anti-LGBTQ culture war, a brighter future ahead.
If you ask me what gives me hope right now, it’s Will Larkins. Things are likely to get tougher for LGBTQ people in Florida before they get easier. Those opposed to equality are well-resourced, hitched to advantageous political wagons and fiercely determined to peel away our progress. But we have been through moments like this before. And with our backs against the wall, we have blazed a path forward because people like Will refuse to be silenced. Refuse to be erased. They live boldly. Organize relentlessly. Lead with vulnerability. And never take their eyes off the future that is possible — and worth fighting for. That future is in good hands with leaders like Will Larkins.
To view the full list of Watermark’s Remarkable People of 2022, click here.
