Administrators began confiscating pride flags and attempted to remove them from campus. “Although the school administration had initially approved the rally and expressed support for students’ civil liberties, their demeanor and tone drastically shifted as the rally progressed. We made our plea to those actively targeting us, the same people who pledged to protect and empower all Floridians.” Students waved pride flags and stood together, showing the politicians peddling bigotry that we will not be silenced. “Over 500 students from my school joined thousands of other concerned youth statewide to demonstrate their constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom to protest. “Today, I led a planned and preapproved rally at Flagler Palm Coast High School in my home state of Florida in opposition to the homophobic and discriminatory legislation being pushed by Governor DeSantis and the Florida State Legislature,” Petocz says in a statement.
