“A lot of people were upset because the things they wrote on the rock were not okay."

High school students in Hastings, Michigan reportedly vandalized a rock at the front of their school with anti-gay rhetoric, and many members of the community are concerned that this represents the school’s larger issue with homophobia.

FOX 17 News spoke with a closeted student who wished to remain anonymous, but told reporters that the things written on the rock “were not okay,” and that the incident only reinforces her fears of hazing that she already witnesses at the school.

“[Being gay is] not something that is highly accepted at that school, I’ve noticed,” she said. “There are others like me, but they’re not out and open about it either. If they are, they kind of get messed with.”

The words on the rock were covered after it was repainted on Friday, but family members of the closeted student are furious that the slurs were still visible for the entire day on Thursday.

“I couldn’t believe that it was there long enough for students to take pictures,” said the student’s relative. “That’s my main thing. Who allowed it to be up there long enough for all of these students to see it?”

“Hastings Area Schools does not tolerate these hateful messages or any behavior that symbolizes hate or discrimination toward others for any reason,” said the school districts’s superintendent, Dr. Carrie Duits, in a statement. “If students feel they are victimized by any such behavior, they should report it immediately to administration.”

“We have not had reports of homophobic hazing or students feeling unsafe, and again this should be reported immediately to administration,” she added.

You can watch Fox’s report on the incident below.





h/t: FOX 17