Who is Emma Gonzalez? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Age: 25 Years, 25 Year Old Females

Family:

father: Jose Gonzalez

mother: Beth Gonzalez

American Women Women Activists

U.S. State: Florida

More Facts

education: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (2018)

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Childhood & Early Life

Emma Gonzalez was born in 2000 to Beth Gonzalez, a math tutor, and Jose Gonzalez, a cybersecurity attorney who immigrated from Cuba to New York City in 1968. Gonzalez was raised in Parkland, Florida and has two older siblings.

She is expected to graduate from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in the spring of 2018. Gonzalez serves as the president of the ‘gay-straight alliance’ in her school. She was the tracking team leader on ‘Project Aquila’, a school project which aimed at sending a weather balloon ‘to the edge of space’. Her fellow student David Hogg documented the whole project. Creative writing and astronomy are her favorite subjects while mathematics is her least favorite.

On 14 February 2018, a gunman opened fire in her school, killing seventeen people and injuring several more. Emma along with dozens of other students hid in the auditorium when the fire alarm went off. Although she made an attempt to exit through the hallway, she was told to take cover. After taking refuge in the auditorium, she was held there for two hours until police finally started letting students out.

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Later Life

On 17 February 2018, Emma Gonzalez delivered an 11-minute speech at a gun control rally in front of the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Her speech was in reaction to the deadly shootings in the Stoneman Douglas High School she had witnessed just three days previously. Her speech which featured a call and response: ‘We call B.S’ in response to gun laws, went viral in no time. According to ‘The Washington Post’, her speech became emblematic of the ‘new strain of furious advocacy’ that sprang up immediately after the shootings.

On 20 February 2018, she along with other survivors spoke with Florida state legislators in Tallahassee on how gun control was the need of the hour. Gonzalez and her fellow students watched the legislature vote down debate on an existing gun control bill.

On 21 February 2018, at an internationally televised town hall hosted by CNN, Gonzalez and her fellow students criticized the NRA as well as politicians accepting money from them, for being complicit in the shootings. At the town hall, Gonzalez pressed NRA representative Dana Loesch to answer her questions when the latter was being evasive.

On 23 February 2018, in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Gonzalez stated that she came up with the ‘We call B.S’ slogan as she felt that her message would best resonate through repetition.

Emma Gonzalez joined Twitter shortly after her viral speech and high-profile media appearances. She acquired more than a million followers within a span of fewer than ten days.

Gonzalez was featured on the cover of Time Magazine’s March 2018 issue. She was featured alongside fellow activists Jaclyn Corin, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky and Alex Wind. She was profiled by ‘France 24’ in the same month.

On 24 March 2018, Gonzalez along with other students including fellow Parkland survivors David Hogg, Cameron Kasky and Sarah Chadwick, organized and participated in the nationwide ‘March for Our Lives’ protest. She spoke for six minutes, the length of time of the Parkland shooting. She also paid tribute to the victims by repeating their names and the things they would never be able to do and cherish again. In an interview on MSNBC at the march, she called for people to ‘empathize rather than feel apathy’ and to vote for change.

Controversies

Emma Gonzalez and her fellow students have been constantly attacked and criticized by the political right wing of American politics and press for their activism. Leslie Gibson, a Republican candidate running unopposed for the Maine legislature and lifetime NRA member called her a ‘skinhead lesbian’. He was subsequently forced to drop out of the race for the Maine legislature.

Conspiracy theorists have falsely accused Gonzalez and her fellow protestors of being ‘crisis actors’. Following her highly publicized speech at the ‘March for Our Lives’ protest, doctored photos of her ripping up a copy of the United States Constitution spread online. She was also criticized by Republican congressman Steve King for wearing a Cuban flag patch on her jacket during her speech.

Achievements

In March 2018, as a result of Emma Gonzalez and her fellow students’ relentless protests and activism, the Florida Legislature passed a bill titled the ‘Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act’. The bill raised the minimum age for buying firearms to 21, established waiting periods’and background checks, provided a program for the arming of some teachers and the hiring of school police, banned ‘bump stocks’ and barred violent or mentally ill people from possessing firearms. The law which allocated around $400 million for implementation was signed by Florida Governor, Rick Scott, on 9 March 2018.

Personal Life & Legacy

Emma Gonzalez is bisexual.

According to fashion and lifestyle magazine, Vogue, her buzz cut is not a feminist statement but just a measure to help her withstand the hot Florida weather.

Emma Gonzalez Biography