Surrounded Why It Always Comes Back to Butt Stuff | We Followed Up With Zander Moricz
Mar 8, 2026
Zander Moricz, organizer and founder of SEE Alliance focused on youth-centered LGBTQ+ advocacy and local school-board strategy. He revisits his Surrounded debate, tackling trans youth and gender-affirming care, confronting misinformation and grooming claims, and discussing strategies for persuasion, community unity, and the role of parents, clinicians, and evidence in heated culture wars.
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Grooming Can Be Political Not Just Sexual
- Zander reframed 'grooming' broadly as influence used to change young people's thinking and argued political figures like Trump and Musk fit that definition more than LGBTQ+ communities.
- He emphasized grooming can be political (not only sexual) and cautioned against conflating individual bad actors with entire identities.
There Is No Single LGBTQ Agenda
- Zander rejected the idea of a single coordinated 'LGBTQ agenda' and compared claiming one exists to saying all dolphins have an agenda because some conservation groups exist.
- He argued identity has been politicized, forcing queer people into politics to defend civil rights rather than reflecting a monolithic movement.
Growing Up Gay In A Red Town
- Zander realized he was gay around 14–15 but delayed acceptance due to fear of politicization and social backlash in his conservative hometown.
- He tried to change himself through religion and media before accepting his identity via personal research.