A Mississippi high school is under fire for the vile bigotry to which they have subjected their salutatorian for being trans.
In a since-deleted post on its Facebook account, D'Iberville High School in Biloxi, Mississippi, posted a photo of salutatorian Jonas Hole that had been photoshopped to feminize his appearance.
The photo, seen below, showed Hole in his ROTC uniform, but with his mustache having been very clearly blurred off of his face. The school also used Hole's pre-transition name instead of his current one, an anti-trans practice called "deadnaming."
The post read:
“Pride. Tradition. Excellence. Congratulations to our DHS Salutatorian, [deadname] Hole!"
"Your hard work, dedication, and commitment to excellence have truly paid off."
"You have set the standard through your perseverance, leadership, and determination, and we could not be more proud of all you have accomplished.”
The post immediately went viral as irate commenters criticized the school and exposed the way they seemed to have altered Hole's appearance.
According to the The Advocate, local Biloxi drag performer and LGBTQ+ rights advocate Tara Shay Montgomery shared a selfie of Hole in his uniform clearly showing his mustache.
She also told the outlet Hole was not the only student targeted by the school over their gender identity.
“Several concerned moms of friends of Jonas reached out to me initially about a total of around 6 students excluded from their senior yearbook due to gender specific dress code policies."
"Then the Jonas post from DHS dropped and one of the same moms shared it with me and my stomach dropped in anger disgust and sadness for him.”
Perhaps contrary to what one would expect from a Mississippi community, the overwhelming response to the post about Hole was anger towards the school for humiliating a literal child.
One commenter wrote:
“Imagining diminishing a child’s accomplishments like this."
Another wrote:
“All of that recognition for his hard work, dedication, commitment to excellence, setting standards, determination, countless hours of effort etc. All of this is just disingenuous when you can’t do the bare minimum and respect JONAS."
A Facebook post about the matter from local media outlet Mississippi Television drew several similar reactions, though they were sadly in the minority.
Adam Allard/Facebook
Coco Lizana/Facebook
Lynn Zimmerman/Facebook
Kayla Jackson/Facebook
Justin Walgren/Facebook
Jerry Motyka/Facebook
Montgomery says a peaceful protest outside D'Iberville High School has been planned to show support for Jonas and represent the local LGBTQ+ community in the face of bigotry.
She said:
“We feel it’s important to meet them where they are, in their current circumstances and surroundings, to show up for them and not just in a bubble of a safe space."
"They need to know we are there in real life. Not just at Pride!”
Several comments on other posts about the incident accused Hole of having a "mental illness," a common refrain among transphobic bigots, but there is perhaps nothing more "mentally ill" than supporting the harassment and humiliation of child. May they all get the help they so obviously need.
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit
u/Duskymoonlight/Reddit