Maria Caspani

(Reuters) – Gun control activist X González has a message for people: Do not underestimate the power of your voice, it can effect change.

González, who uses they/them pronouns, was a student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, when a former student with an assault gun killed 17 people on Feb. 14, 2018.

“I really think that a lot of people underestimate the power that they have and the influence that they can have,” González, 22, said in an interview at  the  Reuters Next conference on Wednesday.

They said that people assume that their voices won’t do any good when they really mean it. “That’s how I was taught,” they continued.

In the aftermath of the Parkland tragedy, González became a vocal advocate for gun control, helping to organize a national student movement to fight gun violence.

A speech González gave at a gun control rally in Florida days after the shooting, calling “B.S.” It went viral because it was directed at U.S. gun lobby supporters.

They were students who fought for gun control reforms and helped pass the Florida Legislature’s March 2018 bill.

In the same month, González and other Parkland survivors led hundreds of thousands of young Americans in the March for Our Lives, demanding tighter gun laws.

“The kids of this generation are just made of a different material and I am really glad that we were able to start young in terms of our activism,” said González.

The life of a young activist today is filled with more books than speeches. Gonzalez, who attends college in Florida, says that there are many books to read. But González, sporting a pink mohawk, said they will likely return to activism in the future.

“I fully expect that later in my life I’ll be out and about again,” González said.

To watch the Reuters Next conference please register here https://reutersevents.com/events/next/