You can manage your newsletter subscriptions at any time. Also in March, a recording of a Republican Nebraska state senator decrying school administrators wanting to put litter boxes in the bathrooms for kids who dress up as animals went viral, and the lawmaker had to apologize after his claim was debunked. Join our group of dedicated readers today Plan a magical wedding day in Vermont, whether ablaze with fall color, capped with snow, or lush with the green of summer. [28][29], According to Lynn McNeill, a folklorist at Utah State University, false rumors of furries using litter boxes date back to at least the early 2000s as satire, and became a recurring urban legend. According to the U.S. Very important to address every students needs.. Vance from Ohio and U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, while U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert of Colorado had a narrow lead in her race that had not been called several weeks after the November 8 election. [54][55], In February 2022, the Carroll Community School District in Iowa was accused of providing litter boxes for those who identified as cats. Don Bolduc, Republican candidate for New Hampshire senator, is one of the latest conservative politicians to repeat the hearsay that schools are providing litter boxes or anything. [87] The school district, along with nearby Lincoln County Schools, said there was no evidence of litter boxes being used on campuses. Schools scramble to get ahead of 'furry' internet hoax", "Students in local schools identify as animals but no litter boxes exist", "Lambton school trustee candidate buys into urban myth of students "presenting as cats", "There are no human-size litter boxes in CCRCE schools", "Midland Public Schools December 2021 Board of Education Meeting", "Litter Boxes for Students Who Identify as Furries? Anything is possible and I cant disprove a negative. [41][42], The only known official instance of cat litter being placed in school classrooms for potential use by students was in the late 2010s by the Jefferson County Public School District in Colorado, where the 1999 Columbine High School massacre took place. [69], In July 2022, administrators for Meade School District in South Dakota clarified in response to rumors that litter boxes would not be provided to students who self-identify as animals in response to rumors. [6], School boards in the late 2010s and early 2020s saw heightened controversy (described by some as a moral panic[31] or culture war[32]) surrounding accomodations for transgender, non-binary, and otherwise gender-variant students, such as unisex restrooms, and allowing students to use bathrooms and participate on sports teams corresponding to their gender identities. All Rights Reserved. Thank you for signing in! He said: No - not socially, culturally or by any national or local LGBTQ organization., He added, People who identify as furries do so for fun; it is not a primary identification.. We've lost our minds. One of the most recent examples involves a relatively unknown community. However, misunderstanding furries was mainstream long before it became political. Welcome! [92] Several school officials in San Luis Obispo County, California, had to refute false litter box rumors, which may have emanated from the promulgation of the hoax by radio show host Joe Rogan. And yet, despite our having studied thousands of furries, weve found no evidence to support this If there is an epidemic of kids howling and meowing in schools, youd think it would be easier to find them and put them in front of a camera (or, at very least, one of their teachers!).. Reuters has not found evidence of widespread cases of schoolchildren identifying as furries disrupting classrooms for this reason. When a clip of the interview circulated widely in the media in October, Thelander said, "I don't believe it now", and that he was unable to corroborate the rumors he had heard from others. West Meadows Townhome Homeowners Association, Paragliders soar past second highest mountain in the world, Venus may have 'evolving' surface, constantly changing due to subsurface bubbling, Millions at Risk of Slipping Into Poverty as COVID-Era SNAP Benefits Set to End, More than 300 words have been added to the English dictionary. Don't knowingly lie about anyone Notifications from this discussion will be disabled. In January, a Michigan public school district had to issue a denial to a parents claim that it was providing litter boxes in unisex bathrooms to children who identified as Sometimes they dress up in full costumes (known as fursuits), designed to look like anthropomorphic characters theyve imagined. Were a small group of interdisciplinary professors who have studied furries and other fan groups for more than 15 years. Weblitter boxes in schools for furries maine. In 2002, a short MTV documentary aired that made furries seem like people merely interested in ribald group sex, and users on the influential Something Awful forums piggybacked off such perceptions to smear furries as pedophiles and zoophiles. After facing backlash, he deleted the tweet and later apologized. Plante and other researchers who spoke to Reuters all said the Facebook clip from Walshs documentary conflated furries with therians. Psychology professor Elizabeth Fein, who also researches furries and therians, told Reuters: While therians recognize they have human bodies, they might also feel they have the reincarnated soul of a wolf, or that they have a sense of affinity with cats that is so deep that they are on some level a cat themselves. Error! Fact check: No, schools aren't providing litter boxes for students who identify as furries. [96][97], In January 2023, Aberdeenshire council repudiated claims made on social media that students at Banff Academy had taken part in dirty protests due to the non-provision of litter boxes for "furries". Success! We encountered an issue signing you up. [22][9][23][21] Some conservative politicians and activists argued that protections for LGBTQ+ students in schools had "gone too far" and that litter box accommodations are what they might lead to next,[24][25] despite there being no confirmed instances of schools providing litter boxes for students to defecate or urinate in, or planning to do so. He also said regarding a widely circulated story by the Herald Sun tabloid newspaper about an Australian teenager allowed to act as a cat in class that was never verified,[107] and of the broader discussion of gender identity issues, "This is the world we live in today, and this is the danger created by normalizing transgender delusions in young students who may get over it. We do have some specialized cleaning kits specifically for emergency bodily fluid clean up and they do include a granular, absorbent substance that helps absorb and solidify bodily fluid in a safe way. A state senator recently claimed that schools were putting litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate students that identify as furries. Its not. ", "Conservatives Are Obsessed With This Lie About Students Identifying as Furries", "Folklorist: Sky View High School litter box rumor follows pattern of 'urban legends', "Opinion | America Is Being Consumed by a Moral Panic Over Trans People", "Culture wars take center stage in Tudor Dixon's education proposals", "Trans athletes, book bans: How school elections became political battlefields", "Did Salem-Keizer allow a student who identifies as a cat to bring a litter box to school? They are broadly recognized as people with varying degrees of aesthetic interest in anthropomorphic animals or characters. [102][103], Elizabeth Brown from Reason suggested the litter box rumors became popular due to "lin[ing] up perfectly with conservative fears about transgender and non-binary students". [104] Kelly Weill from The Daily Beast argued that the politicization of furries in classrooms was a proxy for the broader cultural discussion about race and gender issues. ", "DDSB among boards quashing online rumours litter boxes have been added to washrooms", "False stories of litter boxes in P.E.I. WebThe litter boxes in schools hoax (also called the litter box canard) [1] [2] is a false rumor alleging that certain North American schools provide litter boxes in bathrooms for students who "identify as cats", or who participate in the furry or otherkin subcultures. Snow accumulations less than one inch. An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. ", "Joe Rogan admits schools don't have litter boxes for kids who 'identify' as furries: Podcast host had amplified debunked claim about furries spread by Republican politicians", "Rep. Bob Morris cites 'litter box' myth in school board endorsement", "Tony Dungy apologizes again for tweet about litter box claims", "Tony Dungy deletes controversial cat litter tweet after backlash, outrage", "Claims pupils identifying as cats at school branded 'false rumours', "Michigan school not providing litter box for students identifying as cats", "Claim about schools providing litter boxes for students debunked in several states", "Fact Check-No evidence that U.S. schoolchildren are self-identifying as animals and disrupting classrooms", "School litter boxes, cat translators and other myths", "No, Schools Aren't Accommodating Students Who Identify as Animals", "Opinion | Why Are Seemingly Functional Adults Falling for the 'Furries' Myth? Be proactive. Some teachers were given "go buckets" that contained cat litter to be used as a toilet in an emergency lockdown situation, such as during a school shooting. "[25] Some conservative politicians and alt-right media commentators had used false litter box rumors to generate alarm about what accommodations for LGBTQ+ students might lead to, and have falsely accused LGBT-inclusive educators of "child grooming". This whole furry thing has just got me. [65] School board candidates in Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Dakota also made unverified claims about litter boxes being provided in schools. In April, a Tennessee county school director had to tell parents that his area does not have litter boxes placed in our restrooms and he had not received any request to do so., And just within the past couple weeks, the infamous Libs of TikTok account posted a photo claiming that second graders in the Austin Independent School District were being assigned worksheets teaching them about furries. Among those who had promoted the hoax and prevailed in their races included the incumbents U.S. Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. The meme has continued through the present day onwhere else?TikTok. You can find similarand very recentstories out of Missouri, Illinois, North Dakota, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and more. According To WILX, Midland Public Schools was accused of installing litter boxes in the restrooms for students to use. No, neither Lamoille Union High School nor any other school in Lamoille County is providing litter boxes in school bathrooms for the use of students who identify as furries, a term for those interested in dressing up as anthropomorphized animals. But the vast majority of them still identify as humans, while sometimes adopting an animal-like persona and engaging in short-term roleplay, according to furries and experts, one of whom noted that there are no litter boxes at furry conventions. 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