Emma González: LGBT icon, gun rights activist, and high school senior

Grace Elson, Opinion Editor|March 28, 2018

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After an armed assailant opened fire on a crowd of Florida high school students, killing  17 students, a number of students who survived the attack have become prominent activists for gun control across the nation. One of those activists is Emma González, an 18-year-old high school senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the site of the shooting that’s leading the revolution for gun control. Through her numerous appearances at televised rallies and interviews, this senior has always said one thing in every appearance she’s ever made: “Fight back and don’t let them win.”

 

By age 18, Emma González is changing the very idea of the word “visionary.” From her rallying speeches to her multiple responses to being called a “lesbian skinhead” by a well known politician, she’s earned the right to have her name on everyone’s lips.

But along with being an idol for the younger millennials and the face of a youth protest movement that may finally lead to more gun control, Emma stands out as a threat to the old and outdated ways of the Conservative Cuban-American voting preferences in Florida, where statistically people belonging to this group tend to vote in the opposition of Emma’s cause. To the average reader, that fact doesn’t seem so substantial, but it is. Florida is one of the most important swing states in national elections and getting the millennials’ vote is key to solving an issue. Along with that, Emma portrays a new generation of Latino youth who have the potential to be major political players through their ability to take on varying constituencies and mold a strong and bold message for change. Last week, Gonzalez participated in a sit-down meeting with Florida Senator Marco Rubio, making the meeting the most-watched town hall to air… During the event, Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, refused to say whether he would accept further donations from the NRA,  and instead offered a confusing argument that contributions from the NRA are not the issue, but what  truly matters is that voters “buy into my agenda” of supporting the Second Amendment.

Along with being the face of a revolution for change at age 18, Emma is unapologetic in the embracing of her identity, which in our modern day and age is something to be celebrated. “I’m 18 years old, Cuban, and bisexual,” she says in the lead paragraph of her recent essay published in Harper’s Bazaar. And though The Sun Sentinel has reported that her short buzz-cut is for practical reasons — “Hair is just another sweater I’m forced to wear,”  — her participation in her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance and recent self-outing resounds with many of the fellow millennials’ stories, giving her a connection to the youth with a voice.

Most importantly, Emma herself is going through the same thing you and I are. The dreaded and awkward times of high school. Emma is a senior and club president of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school. So along with feeling the pressures of being in the public’s eye, she feels the pressure that you and I face everyday.