HILLSBORO, Ohio — Less than one month before opening night on their new auditorium stage, Hillsboro High School students learned they will not be performing their fall play.

"She Kills Monsters" was canceled Thursday after students said there were complaints about a gay character. The play follows a high school senior as she learns about her late sister's life. Along the way, it is implied her sister is gay.

Student Christopher Cronan said he was devastated to learn he had spent months learning a new role that would not make the stage — blindsided when he learned of the decision to cancel.

"It felt like we had just been told, 'Screw off and your lives don’t matter,'" Cronan said. "I am openly bisexual in that school and I have faced a lot of homophobia there, but I never expected them to cancel a play for a fictional character."

Cronan and his father, Ryan, attended a meeting where questions were raised about the play's sexual content. The district then informed students Thursday that "She Kills Monsters" would be canceled because it was "deemed inappropriate for K-12."

"They want to say the town is just not ready, but how are you not ready? It's 2021," Ryan Cronan said.

Families said they believe the decision was influenced by a pastor who has been in support of canceling the play.

“I think that’s wrong. All they would have had to do if they objected to something in the play was not go to the play," said Jon Polstra, a father of one of the actors.

While Jeff Lyle, teaching pastor at Good News Gathering, said he is in favor of canceling the play, he said in an email he never spoke to the school board, who he believes made the decision. Lyle said the play is "inappropriate for a number of reasons" — pointing to implied sexual activity between the unmarried, innuendo and foul language, but said he is not aware of any role he had in the play's cancellation.

Students are now trying to put on the play elsewhere, starting a GoFundMe for production. If they raise enough money, they plan to perform as a community theater in 2022.

"If we do raise enough money, I am going to be genuinely happy for a very long time, because that means people do care," Cronan said.

HILLSBORO, Ohio — Two tornadoes touched down in the Hillsboro area during heavy thunderstorms, the National Weather Service announced.

The NWS said an EF0 tornado touched down near the intersection of Danville and Roush Road in Highland County, damaging the roof and windows of one home just before 1 a.m. Saturday. The tornado continued down Roush Road, where a home on the north side of the road sustained roof damage. The tornado eventually dissipated east of Kesler Road.

An EF1 then touched down 3 miles north of Hillsboro minutes after the first. The NWS said the tornado removed a large portion of a roof from an outbuilding on Selph Road near Lewis Lane. The garage door of one home on Kincaid Road was also smashed. The NWS said the most intense damage was along Morrow Road, where surveyors found "numerous trees" snapped and uprooted and several outbuildings damaged. The tornado weakened about 5 miles northeast of Hillsboro.

Wil Burns and his family were inside their home when the tornado touched down. Moments before the tornado hit, Burns said, he got an alert on his phone.

"My wife and I, we got the kids in the center of the house," Burns said. "There's no basement, just crawl space, but it's the best spot for them...we had a 10-minute warning with the alert, so we're pretty fortunate."

The winds pushed a carport from his home and through his yard.

"We [heard] the low rumble sound," Burns said. "It wasn't quite like a freight train for us. It was like a distant jet that was low-flying or really big heavy vehicle on the road that just never seemed to pass."

Burns' backyard, where his family raises livestock, was also damaged — a chicken coop was destroyed and one of the family's rabbits was killed. While there is a lot to clean up, Burns said he is grateful his family is safe.

EF0 and EF1 tornadoes are considered weak, but bring winds between 65 and 110 miles per hour.

HILLSBORO, Ohio —

The National Weather Service in Wilmington, Ohio, has confirmed both an EF0 and an EF1 tornado touched down in Highland County, Ohio, early Saturday.

The first tornado in West Central Highland County dropped at approximately 12:53 a.m. and remained on the ground for 1.9 miles.

The National Weather Service described the path the storm took, "The first tornado to occur in Highland County started near the intersection of Danville Road and Roush Road... The tornado then crossed Danville Road, heading east down Roush Road."

The NWS went on to say, "The circulation weakened as it continued east along Roush Road and eventually dissipated east of Kesler Road."

This happened at an estimated time of 12:56 a.m.

The tornado packed peak winds of 80 mph and had a maximum width of 50 yards. As it progressed east, the circulation left a trail of damage.

The NWS stated, "Numerous trees were damaged on the west side of Danville Road along with some minor damage to the home including roof damage and broken windows... The strongest damage was found at a residence on the north side of Roush Road where an outbuilding sustained roof damage. Multiple trees at the same property were also damaged or uprooted."

No fatalities or injuries were reported with this circulation.

This storm went on to recirculate and produce another tornado 3 to 5 miles northeast of Hillsboro in Highland County at approximately 1:03 a.m. The NWS shared, "Damage associated with the tornado began east of U.S. 62, north of Hillsboro and consisted of uprooted trees and large snapped limbs. The first structural damage was observed north of Selph Road near Lewis Lane where a large portion of roof covering was removed from an outbuilding."

Additional tree damage was found along Lewis Lane. From here, approximately 1 mile of unreachable damage due to lack of roads stretched between Lewis Lane and Kincaid Road to the east.

The National Weather Service went on to say, "A structure on the east side of Kincaid Road sustained sidewall damage associated with a garage door failure. Further south along Kincaid Road, a considerable amount of trees were snapped and uprooted consistent with straight-line winds."

The tornado continued traveling east, crossing State Route 138 causing tree and minor structural damage. The NWS shared, "the most intense damage occurred along Morrow Road. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Several outbuildings received considerable damage." The tornado weakened at approximately 1:08 a.m. with the final damage occurring near Fall Creek.

No fatalities or injuries were reported.

This tornado had maximum winds of 95 mph and a path width of 70 yards. It was on the ground for 3.1 miles.