Parents' fury over school bulletin board encouraging students to 'have a gay summer'

By RACHEL BOWMAN, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:48, 16 June 2026 | Updated: 21:48, 16 June 2026 A Massachusetts high school is facing backlash for displaying a bulletin board that encourages students to 'have a gay summer.' Dartmouth High School (DHS) parent Lynne Turner shared a photo of the colorful signage on Facebook on Monday. The message was displayed across a large green bulletin board with 'have a gay summer' written out in big block letters. Pride flags and rainbow-colored sticky notes were also included on the board. 'This is NOT ok. It needs to be removed, and an apology needs to be made to the children and parents of Dartmouth kids,' Turner wrote. 'Schools are supposed to educate and prepare students for successful careers, as well as give them skills for life. DHS, pushing gay ideology on our youth is NOT your place!' In an update, Turner claimed she spoke with DHS Principal Ryan Shea, who told her the board was created by the Gay-Straight Alliance student organization. 'He said they do have an adult sponsor that allowed the bulletin board, and that he does not have a problem with it because he feels that the messages are positive on the sticky notes,' Turner wrote. 'He said the bulletin board will be up for another week, until school gets out.' A concerned parent shared a photo of the colorful signage at Dartmouth High School in Massachusetts on Facebook The mother claimed she told the principal she views the sign as grooming, which he denied, and said 'he highly doubts that someone walking by the bulletin board will want to become gay.'  Turner said they ultimately agreed to disagree and added that she has taken her concerns to the school district. The Daily Mail contacted the principal, the school district superintendent and Turner for comment. Turner's post sparked fury online, with many concerned community members outraged over the sign. 'Not so subtle grooming tactic,' one person wrote on Facebook. 'This is what our over-taxed property tax is going to overpaid teachers, administration, gay rights and illegals time to take a stand and stop trying to turn the kids gay disgusting,' wrote a second. 'Yeah, not okay. What about HAVE A STRAIGHT SUMMER? They would be outraged. This is absolutely crazy smh,' added a third. A fourth person wrote, 'Should be automatically terminated! No exception for anything sexual!' The parent said the school principal told her the bulletin board was created by the school Gay/Straight Alliance club and will stay up until the end of the school year 'Disappointed, disgusted, shameful. This should go against all rules of school for our young children,' a fifth person wrote. Others defended the bulletin board, claiming it sends a positive message, and accused people who are against it of being homophobic. 'Say you're a homophobe without saying you're a homophobe - what a bunch of vile, hate-filled comments. It's a word, people; it's not going to make your non gay kid gay. It's students expressing themselves in a meaningful way,' one person wrote.  'Hey, so this is a play on words! I don't know if you knew this, but the word gay also means happy! No one is pushing sexuality on anyone, this means happy in this context. Hope this helps!' added another. 'And I hope they continue to ignore you. If you could choose to be gay, there would be way more lesbians. Get back to reality and leave the gay kids alone. You're the bully here,' a third person wrote. Another person added, 'My god, y'all are snowflakes. Seeing the word gay won't make a straight kid gay, but it might brighten up a gay kid's day. These are high school students; they're old enough to know gay people exist.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.