Mississippi school allegedly edited transgender salutatorian’s face after deadnaming him online

A Mississippi high school is facing backlash after a Facebook post celebrating its 2026 salutatorian deadnamed the transgender student and appeared to digitally alter his appearance.The post, published Sunday by D'Iberville High School in Biloxi, congratulated salutatorian Jonas Hole with the caption, “Pride. Tradition. Excellence. Congratulations to our DHS Salutatorian,” before identifying him by his deadname.The post quickly drew criticism online, generating more than 1,300 comments, over 650 reactions, and nearly 90 shares as commenters accused the school of transphobia and rallied in support of Hole, who identifies as transmasculine.Many commenters also alleged the school edited Hole’s senior portrait before posting it online. “They photoshopped his mustache off to make him look more ‘feminine,’” commenter Micheala Boffman wrote.Tara Shay Montgomery, a Biloxi drag queen and local LGBTQ+ advocate, said she was contacted by several parents connected to Hole and other students. This selfie shows Jonas Hole as he actually appears, with a mustache, which his school removed for a social media post.Jonas Hole“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,” Montgomery told The Advocate. “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.”Montgomery shared a selfie Hole had posted wearing his U.S. Army Junior ROTC uniform bearing medals, ribbons, and other honors for being a “superior cadet,” as well as a member of the sabre team and color guard. The image clearly shows his mustache, which commenters said appeared missing in the version posted by the school.“You'll notice that his mustache has been edited out to look like a shadow and his lips have been pinkened.” said Montgomery.Most commenters congratulated Hole w