Model and Controller after moving the query logic into the model and using scopes

controller

@speaker_requests_upcoming = SpeakerRequest.published.content(search).date_range(date_start, date_end)
@speaker_requests_upcoming = @speaker_requests_upcoming.paginate(page: params[:page], :order => "date ASC")

model

  scope :published, -> { where published: true }
  scope :content, ->(searched) { where(["content LIKE ?", "%#{searched}%"]) }
  scope :date_range, ->(start_date, end_date) {
    where("date between ? and ?", start_date, end_date)
  }

Not bad. Don't forget that you can add order as a scope also.

scope :by_date, -> { order(:date) }