Prior to the litter box rumors, furries were seen as sexual deviantsan idea that was reinforced by popular media that emphasized the sensational over facts. The four finalists for National Superintendent of the Year speak during a panel on Jan. 12 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. He later retracted his comments after finding out they werent true, according to reporting by the Associated Press. So, my parents were saying that a school board in Skowhegan, or, doesn't really matter, had a meeting to allow kids who identify as furries to defecate and pee in school. Family of transgender child in Texas speak out on Gov. That same month, school board candidates in Arkansas and Tennessee made similar remarks, and Jennifer Benson, a school board member in Fargo, North Dakota, told a local news outlet children were wearing leashes to school and using litter boxes. Mr. Sharrow, the superintendent, citing a backdrop of this divisive/contentious world in which we currently find ourselves, urged parents to contact him if rumors like this surfaced again. shared a video of the school board meeting and the comments on Facebook. Surveys and pre-publication research from Furscience also indicate that the vast majority are LGBTQ and as many as a third are transgender. I think its an agenda that has been started by a small minority group and a political wing, said Brenner, who emphasized he was speaking about his own personal opinion and not on behalf of the district. You get to interact with others in the same sphere. There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! Join our webinar to learn from experts on how to create safe spaces using neuroscience and trauma-informed approaches. The kitty litter box hoax has spread so far and so fast it even has its own debunking wikipage, which claims the rumor is in response to schools enacting rights for transgender students. They may not realize theyre actually doing a favor in the long run, Strike said of those behind the rumor. I had not heard of this at all, she says. She also claimed that the nefarious practice was part of a nationwide agenda being pushed within the education system. I have never once heard a furry say they want to use a litter box, Kymera said. Shes allowed to wear her tail and mask at work, she said. Catalina Lauf, a Republican congressional nominee in Illinois, tweeted this month that schoolchildren were using litter boxes in her state. However, misunderstanding furries was mainstream long before it became political. It would be like trying to have sex wearing a winter coat inside a spacesuit. Pursuit of the fursuit: The joys of being furry and making furfriends, Manage your Advertiser Democrat Subscription, Manage your Livermore Falls Advertiser Subscription, Manage your Franklin Journal Subscription, Manage your Rumford Falls Times Subscription, Manage Your Rangeley Highlander Subscription, Sun Media Groups Western Maine Weekly Subscriptions, Mark LaFlamme: Dead batteries and bruised tailbones, In a word: The long and short of well-known names, Harrison, West Paris kids are all in on winter, George Fox returns to Ukraine for third time, Its a new year, start fresh: reuse, recycle, reduce, Part 1, Katherines Bakery & Cafe expands, all the way up the street. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. 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. ET. NBC News found one example of a school district keeping cat litter on campuses for students to use but it had nothing to do with accommodating children who identify as animals. Furries are fans of animals that have human characteristics, such as talking or walking on their hind legs. Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide elementary, middle, high school and more. Conventions typically include art exhibits, dances, vendors selling fursuits, accessories, books and T-shirts. In one segment of the video, below, at 33 minutes into the video ( the video on this page starts at 33 minutes-in, accordingly) you will see a parent whose name is Lisa mention that students identifying as furries are being provided with cat litter boxes or trays. As the number of people identifying as trans and nonbinary has increased in recent years, particularly among young people, so has the amount of anti-LGBTQ legislation from conservative politicians. John D. OBryant, a civil rights leader of Martin Luther King Jr.s era, is honored at new Boston Common statue, Northeastern upsets UConn, 4-1, at Frozen Fenway on 29 saves by Devon Levi, the best goaltender in the country, Don Orsillo, Northeastern graduate and MLB voice, sounds off on Red Sox, Bogaerts and his time as a Husky, Northeastern mens hockey team hopes frozen Fenway Park will be a game-changer. People make fun of you for no reason. Educators of color say its often another person seeing their potential and pushing themthat got them into leadership. Will climate change make them worse? Ive studied more than 40,000 furries from 70 different countries over a decade, she said. However, there is no publicly-available evidence that proves schools are providing litter boxes to self-identified "furries" anywhere in the U.S. "Furries" are people who often create . People have sex and furries are people. There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! wrote MichaelE. Sharrow, the superintendent for Midland Public Schools, near Detroit, which was accused of the bizarre concession at a Dec. 20 board meeting. She attended her first furry event in 2016 and got her fursuit in 2020. Prior to the litter box rumours, furries were seen as sexual deviants an idea that was reinforced by popular media that emphasized the sensational over facts. Ben Collins covers disinformation, extremism and the internet for NBC News. From the Morning Sun: Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow took to Facebook Thursday, addressing false rumors that litter box accommodations were being made for students who identify as "furries.". What are we doing to our kids? Meanwhile on TikTok, one video claiming kids are now requesting litter boxes at school collected 3 million views on the platform. Bunny Hawkins sports pink hair and a bunny mask at her home in Skowhegan last week. However, the term furry fandom was being used in online magazines as early as 1983 and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s, according to the Wikipedia entry. A SCHOOL in Michigan has bizarrely been accused by outraged parents of installing litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats and dogs. Voir les partenaires de TheConversation France. Another 50 per cent of furries own furry paraphernalia a furry T-shirt, ears, collar or tail that communicates their furry interests to others. Putting aside broader questions about the degree to which weve lost our minds, Jensens claim was, and is, ridiculous: No one is putting litter boxes in schools because children identify as furries. Anytime you have something like that, time and resources are spent which then just takes us away from the good work thats being done by our faculty and staff on a daily basis.. Depending on the study, we find more than 70 per cent of furries identify as LGBTQ+ and more than 25 per cent are gender-identity diverse. ET. And Joe Rogan, a comedian and podcast host, said he knew of a school that was offering litter boxes to students on the Oct. 11 episode of his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience. Rogan also backtracked on his claims, saying it doesnt seem that theres any proof that they put the litter box in there on a later podcast episode. A. It is unconscionable that this afternoon I am sending this communication, the superintendent of Midland Public Schools, Michael Sharrow, wrote on Thursday in an email to parents that was also shared on Facebook. As strange as that may sound to some, director . But that didnt stop Meshawn Maddock, a leader of the Michigan Republican party, from sharing it on Facebook and spreading it further, according to reporting from the New York Times. Getty Images. The 30-year-old lives in Skowhegan and works at the local Walmart. And we just wanted to try to knock that noise down at the very least at the local level.. On Jan. 20, Meshawn Maddock, the co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, advanced the rumor, posting on Facebook that Kids who identify as furries get a litter box in the school bathroom, with a link to a parent activist group. Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration. Already have a commenting profile? Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. One school district was accused of putting cat litter boxes in school bathrooms for students who identify as "furries," but the superintendent of Michigan's Midland . There was also the unsubstantiated report that tables in a Texas school cafeteria were being lowered to allow furries to more easily eat without utensils or their hands (i.e. The inclusive nature of the furry fandom means that, for many furries, its a safe place where they can be their most authentic selves. Mick Pratt, 35, of Westbrook designed her partial costume and her character. They talk about why people like being furries. In December 2021, conservative activist Lisa Hansen claimed at a school board meeting in Midland, Michigan, that an unnamed school in the district had placed a litter box for the kids that identify as cats in a unisex bathroom as part of the agenda thats being pushed. Hansen, who later started a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group, did not respond to requests for comment. Furries are a fandom, like anime, Star Trek or football. The past few conventions have been canceled because of the COVID pandemic, but a convention featuring furries, comics, fantasy and gaming is scheduled for this coming summer, from June 23 to 26, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in South Portland. Like Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, team mascots. Why do we have litter boxes in some of the school districts so kids can pee in them, because they identify as a furry? And today I am equally stunned and a little bit upset well, not a little bit, a lot of bit upset. A Facebook post says schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as furries. In January 2022, for example, unfounded rumors were circulated on social media . Todd Dorman. In an email sent to parents, staff and community members on Jan. 20, Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael Sharrow denied the claim that "litter boxes were provided within MPS student. Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican Iowa state senator, said at a forum in May that local schools had been required to put cat litter boxes in the bathroom for furries to use, as he discussed schools that allow transgender students to use the restroom that aligns with their gender identity. In January 2022, a Republican party official in Michigan shared the remarkable claim that in Midland public schools, officials were accommodating "furries" people who sometimes dress as. Many of these assertions claim that schools have or are in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools.. A woman named Lisa Hansen first raised the issue at a December 20 meeting of the Midland Public Schools Board, a . . Similarly, furries might attend a furry convention, local meet-up or simply connect with like-others online, but they return to everyday life on Mondayjust like everyone else, Roberts says. Members of the furries fantasy subculture tell The Post theyre not wild about this weeks viral rumor that a Michigan school put a litter box in one of its bathrooms for the kids that identify as cats, as one harried parent put it. Wed., February 01, 2023, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. These are not the kinds of species that would use litter boxes, anyway. Thats the case for furries, too. Its a fandom. She gave the example of a far-more mainstream Star Trek convention. Should you get rid of your gas stove? Its offensive to our teachers, to our principals, to our students. Galguera believes that the funding of U.S. schools mainly with local taxes helps give rise to overzealous concern about what is being taught in schools, a concern that lends itself to rumors and paranoia. A Michigan school superintendent debunked the rumor after a video from a December school board meeting resurfaced in which a speaker airs concerns about students who identify as cats.. Last March, Nebraska state Sen. Bruce Bostelman, a Republican, spread the hoax during a debate on the floor of the legislature about a bill that would help school children who have behavioral problems. Forensic genealogy starred in apprehension of Idaho murder suspectbut was it necessary. Beyond Republican politicians and officials, plenty of social media users have latched onto the rumor, most notably on Facebook and TikTok. Abbotts attacks: Its a campaign of terror, As elections near, racist appeals receive little GOP pushback. Many of the litter box rumours also fixate on cats. Therefore, if you identify as a dog or cat you can no longer go to a public school because animals are not allowed. In late October, Don Bolduc, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee in New Hampshire, claimed schools were offering litter boxes for students who identified as cats and are part of the furries. A Facebook post says schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as furries. But not everyone ridicules furries, Pratt said. Let me be clear in this communication, he wrote. Ive actually made new friends at school because of it, Dayna said in an email. Its only used to kind of sensationalize untruth, and to harm our community, in particular our transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive youth, said Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ rights organization, when asked about the litter box rumors. At least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials have claimed this year that K-12 schools are placing litter boxes on campus or making other accommodations for students who identify as cats, according to an NBC News review of public statements. Thu., January 19, 2023, 2:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. The next day, the popular conservative Twitter account Libs of TikTok tweeted the video of Hansen at the school board meeting. Some believe they dress that way all the time. Fri., January 20, 2023, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. In his statement, Mr. Sharrow debunked the rumor as categorically false. To get one, go to the subscriptions page. That same day, Sharrow took to Facebook to clarify that the rumor was, in fact, false. 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