The Lens

Brave 17 Year Old, Will Larkins, Fires Back at Bigotry in Florida

How brave are you? As you ponder this question, you may conjure images of roller coasters you dared to ride or job opportunities you chased with zeal.

But do you have the raw courage to confront bigotry while donning a gender-bending ensemble in the depths of eff-word Florida?

Will Larkins embodies bravery. He is a student in the Seminole County Public School system, which is ground zero for our current civil rights struggle. The so-called Sunshine State has become a maelstrom of homophobia and hate, courtesy of politicians who really don’t give a damn about humanity, but instead they stoke our divisiveness until it gets them elected.

And brain-dead citizens devour the pervasive ignorance like Trump-Chow.

Case in point: Drake Wuertz, a melty snowflake who is so scared of the “LGBTQ agenda and indoctrination of queer theory” that he recently threatened to lead the “largest public school exit that this state has ever seen.”

DrakeyPants then continued by arguing there are only two sets of chromosomes before concluding his idiotic rant with a vomitous sign-off: “Let’s keep Seminole great.”

Oh, and he did it all while wearing a t-shirt that reads, Taking Back the Rainbow emblazoned over the image of Noah’s Ark.

Honestly, Dipsh*t Drake just needs a good D in his A.

But instead of stooping to our juvenile level, Will Larkin maintained his composure. This 17-year-old hero owned the podium and made an impassioned plea for education. Not just education about math, science and other core curriculum, but true learning.

Larkins recounted the violent harassment he had endured at the hands of truly evil bullies. They told him to have sex with kids and animals, because that’s what right-wing media has convinced them to “think” (and we use the word think lightly).

Summoning up his vast reserves of resilience, Larkins fired back.

“I wasn’t groomed into being this way; I wasn’t taught about who I was and I’m still here.”

Bravo!

Larkins went on to reveal that even his history teacher didn’t know about the Stonewall riots. “I’m asking the school board to please include LGBTQ history in the curriculum. Being gay, being trans, being bi, being a lesbian, it doesn’t have to do with sex. It’s not inherently perverted. It’s about identity.”

And we identify Will Larkins as the hero we need right damn now. Thank you for your heart/soul/everything, Will. 

Photo: Instagram @proudtwinkie

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Kevin Perry

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