Some parents urge Visalia school district audit response to homophobic slur incident
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Audits of LGBTQ+ training (grades 6–12), FAIR Act, and student supports.
- Speakers linked slur to harm, urged accountability and audits.
- District: students disciplined; pledges review, analysis and community engagement.
Parents, students and community members demanded Visalia Unified officials conduct an audit of the school district’s handling of the Feb. 12 viral incident in which Redwood High students took a photo on campus spelling out a homophobic slur.
Community and LGBTQ advocates, including The Source LGBT+ Center, a Visalia-based nonprofit, condemned the incident, which drew national attention and social media backlash.
Former and current Visalia Unified students shared personal stories of bullying and harassment during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s school board meeting. They asked the district to conduct an internal audit of LGBTQ+ cultural competency training for all educators in grades 6 through 12, as well as an audit of the district’s implementation of the FAIR Act, which requires that social studies instruction include contributions by LGBTQ+ individuals.
Community members and LGBTQ advocates also asked the school board to audit whether the district is doing enough to support its LGBTQ+ students.
June Rodriguez, a former student at Redwood High who transferred to Golden West High because she was bullied for being queer, said many of the students in the photo incident had called her homophobic slurs. Rodriguez said the slur has been normalized on campus.
“If this was a racial slur, I’m sure this wouldn’t be tolerated or even question, but because this targets queer students, we’re here trying to explain how impactful slurs really are,” Rodriguez told the school board.
Some speakers called on the district to take measurable steps to create a safer, more inclusive school environment for LGBTQ students.
Dr. Kathryn L. Hall, a retired pediatrician and founding member of PFLAG Tulare and Kings County said support by family, school, church and community members improve the chances of LGBTQ+ youth having a healthy, safe and happy life.
“That is what we want for all our students,” Hall said.
Alyssa Rodriguez, a parent and educator, said the students involved in the incident “deserve some understanding as they learn from their mistake,” but added LGBTQ students such as her daughter have had slurs yelled at them,.
Erika Hawkyard, program director at The Source LGBT+ Center in Visalia, told the board that “school climates matter because they’re often one of the most influential sources of safety, belonging and stability in a young person’s life,” especially for queer students who are dealing with family rejection.
Hawkyard said normalizing hate sent a “painful message to LGBTQ+ studetns that they are unsafe, unwelcome and unworthy of respect.”
Superintendent Kirk Shrum addressed the Redwood High incident before the public comment period.
“To our LGBTQ students and adults, I want to affirm that you are valued members of our school community.” Shrum said.
Shrum said he met earlier this month with students in the district’s superintendent student advisory group, a group of about 100 students from each school in the district. He said many students acknowledge that the use ant-LGBTQ slurs have been normalized for youth.
“Which makes it more important than ever that as a district, we actively challenge that reality to ensure our schools stand for respect, dignity and belonging for every student,” Shrum said.
He said that the district will continue to work with the community to make schools safer. He met with several community leaders including LGBTW+ community and faith leaders.
Shrum said the district is committed to “self-examination, inquiry and analysis of practices, critical review of organizational policies as we continue the conversation with our students, leaders, parents and community, so that our schools and classrooms are safe places for all.”
It is not the first time Visalia Unified has made the news for a homophobic incident.
In 2002, VUSD settled a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU over “routine harassment of lesbian and gay students, some of whom were then forced into a special program for students with behavioral problems.”
The ACLU filed the federal lawsuit in 2001 on behalf of a former VUSD student George Loomis and the statewide Gay-Straight Alliance Network.
What happened
The viral photo shows a group of eight ASB students, male and female, spelling out “2 FAG6OTS” while sitting next to each other on the bleachers. In the photo, each letter or number in the slur is individually emblazoned on a T-shirt, so that when the students are seated next to each other, along a bleacher row, the message is spelled out.
The shirts were originally meant to spell “ALWAYS LEGIT, CLASS OF 2026” as part of their senior photo.
According to news reports, the school’s associated student body was leading an eighth-grade orientation on Feb. 12 when some ASB leaders reacted to two middle-school boys holding hands earlier in the day. The ASB students rearranged themselves to spell the homophobic slur after their official senior photo was taken at the gym around fourth period.
The incoming freshmen did not witness the message or the photo being taken while they were on school campus for orientation, school officials said.
The involved students have faced “disciplinary action,” according to the district, but officials said specifics of the investigation — including how many students were involved and how they were disciplined — won’t be made public.
This story was originally published March 11, 2026 at 5:02 PM.
