Homophobic posters taped to the walls of South Kamloops Secondary School by at least one student last week have been removed after other students reported them to staff.

The posters read, "Veterans only get one officially recognized day, but gays get a whole month because they are so brave and they do so much for this country." June is LGBT Pride Month.

Vessy Mochikas, district principal of inclusive education for School District 73, said she was disappointed to hear about the posters but pleased to see how quickly they were taken down.

"Students saw it, were offended by it, took it down right away, and then the school leaders dealt with it very efficiently with the student at hand," she told Daybreak Kamloops host Shelley Joyce.

The district did not say how many students were involved or how many posters were on the walls, only that they were removed and that this was an isolated incident.

Mochikas wasn't directly involved with handling the incident, but said it shows that more work needs to be done with their sexual orientation and gender identity curriculum (SOGI).

"I put it in perspective of, we deal with students and youth, and we know that they will make mistakes from time to time and it's a learning opportunity," she said, adding that school leaders dealt with it "really efficiently."

"I know the school leaders are very good at what they do, they're parents themselves. They'll work with the families and the student," said Mochikas.

"I think the key thing whenever something like this happens is to get the motivation. Is the motivation, impulse, of you thought you were being funny? Is there anger or hate behind that message? And then the intervention used would be appropriate to the motivation."

LGBTQ clubs

Having LGBTQ clubs in the district's schools is extremely important for creating safe spaces for students, said Mochikas.

One of the key aspects of the SOGI curriculum is visibility inclusion, which includes having Gender Sexuality Alliances (GSA).

"I would suggest that a number of people who identify as being in the LGBTQ2S community or questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation might not even attend the GSA, or the diversity club, but knowing that it exists in the school makes them know that it's a safe space," she said.

"It's a symbol of you know there are safe people in the school and you're accepted for who you are."

This year, the district's board unanimously approved participating in the Kamloops Pride Parade.

"[It's] to show students that we accept them, we see them and we support them."