Please! 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. It's also worth noting that while McKenna claimed on Pesta's podcast that she had received multiple emails about these furry protocols, the email she presents is the same email Pesta has been showcasing during his presentations. 2022, https://isthmus.com/api/content/5442e938-b445-11ec-8e34-12274efc5439/. Additionally, this summer, a group of parents and community members unsuccessfully pushedfor the removal of "Gender Queer: A Memoir," a graphic novel by Maia Kobabe that discusses topics such as asexuality and being nonbinary, from Salem-Keizer high school libraries. There are websites that claim there is a catgender movement, but that is a different thing. Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, speaks at a forum in Denver on Sept. 30. The one thing thats certain, however, is that cats dont deserve to be in the middle of this mess. former QAnon supporter and Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene. I heard that at least one of our schools in our town has a, in one of the unisex bathrooms, a litter box for the kids that identify as cats. 11:AM-2:PM 99.9 FM /AM 1380 MA, RI. Accessed 5 Apr. In this divisive/contentious world in which we currently find ourselves, I ask that if you hear wild accusations that dont sound like something in which your Midland Public Schools Board of Education, Administration, District would be part, take a moment to send an MPSConnect message to me, he wrote, providing the MPSConnect link. Then I hear meow! Im like, Okay, whats up with that? Dayna, 15, who lives in Canada, said she brings a mask and tail to school every day but only wears them during lunch and keeps them in her bag during class. Not everyone supported the policy changes, with a group protesting them outside district offices in April. "Sadly, the spread of hateful disinformation targeting queer and trans folks is nothing new, and these tactics make our schools and communities less safe," they said. And um, I am really disturbed by that., Furry is an evolving word once exclusively used as an adjective meaning consisting of fur, according to Merriam-Webster, but now can be used to describe people who have a keen interest in, or even dress up as, anthropomorphic animal characters, like those often seen in comics, games and cartoons.. (LogOut/ It started when a video of a central Michigan school board meeting went viral in mid-January after a parent claimed a "nefarious . The Waunakee school district has not seen a wave of students identifying as cats, and they did not enforce any "furry protocols" in order to deal with these alleged students. Since then, however, it has spread to numerous US states and now to Scotland. 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, in fact every school district that has been named by those 20 politicians said in public statements that these claims are untrue. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Nonbinary is when someone does not identify as either male or female. I like bringing them because its a way to show my creative outlet and something to talk to my friends about. At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats. Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate them, but the districts superintendent debunked such stories. A Wisconsin school district has a set of "furry protocols" that allows students to identify as cats. There is a real subculture of people known as furries, a community of children and adults who roleplay as anthropomorphized animal characters. Like our page to get updates throughout the day on our latest debunks. Thankfully for our furry friends, smaller brains don't necessarily correlate to lower intelligence. If we do encounter a verifiable story about a school district doing that, Ill absolutely write about it. ! Nebraska Lawmaker Apologizes for Debunked Litter Box Claim. NBC News, https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/nebraska-lawmaker-apologizes-debunked-litter-box-claim-rcna21951. The rumour alleged that pupils at Banff Academy were identifying as cats (Image: PA) A SCOTTISH secondary school has had to deny reports that some of its pupils were identifying as cats and defecating on the floor after school officials refused to provide a litterbox. Please report any comments that break our rules. In January 2022, for example, unfounded rumors were circulated on social media claiming that a school in Michigan had installed litter boxes in order to appease students who had started identifying as cats. While Pesta claims that this woman was fired, she was not fired. One post calling for school districts to take action has been shared more than 31,000 times. Sen. Bruce Bostleman would later apologize for falsely claiming that students were meowing, identifying as cats, and going to the bathroom in litter boxes. "Let's instead focus on real issues impacting Oregon youth.". 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Clearly, identifying as a cat is absurd and indicative of a serious personal problem. The litter boxes in schools hoax (also called the litter box canard) 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. These situations have been addressed consistently by administration and the dress code policy will continue to be implemented with fidelity. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I was also walking down the hallway three weeks ago when a boy wearing dog ears barked at me and my friend as we passed, she said, adding the boy left the school building on all fours. The email was also published in a regional Facebook group. The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Tags: john depetro north kingstown rhode island Please Share This USA TODAY reached out to Hansen for comment. Hananoki, Eric. I didnt realize theyre still making new episodes of Family Guy. "It is such a source of disappointment that I felt the necessity to communicate this message to you.". Silver Honda CRV seen fleeing towards Manton Ave. Cranston stand off https://fb.watch/iZ0CaYIkSb/?mibextid=ykz3hl, Copyright John DePetro. Snowstorm Could Hit Metro Detroit Friday: Possible Snow Totals, Detroit Bakery Reopens In Midtown With 25 Cent Cookies, DTE Energy Will Give Automatic Credit To Those Affect By Power Outage, Here's How Many Guns Were Sold In Michigan Last Month, 2 Women Sexually Assaulted While Walking In Ann Arbor, Police Say, Popular Oakland County Restaurant, Music Venue Abruptly Closes. Roberts said that in her research career, shes never heard of or seen an instance of a furry wanting a litter box. Natalie Pate covers education for the Statesman Journal. Vicki McKenna Promotes False Claim about Furries in Waunakee School District. Isthmus | Madison, Wisconsin, 4 Apr. The Meade County School district is dealing with an unusual situation: a group of high school students is attending school acting like and dressing as cats. Its like that show and South Park are sort of grandfathered in and get away with things due to their success, but new shows wouldnt be allowed near some of these topics with a 10-foot pole. Our approach is always unique to the student and we will take into account professional advice and the wellbeing of the student, the Australian school said in a statement. website:https://t.co/MPw6FiMrm1. The story about the fired substitute also had its roots in an online video, with a woman who says shes a teacher relating the story via TikTok. February 27, 2023 . theco-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Oregon trans student's advice to LGBTQ youth, Salem-Keizer: Claims of litter boxes in school restrooms are false. A video of Wisconsin talk radio host Vicki McKenna's appearance on the Dr. Duke Show, a podcast hosted by Dr. Duke Pesta, racked up more than 100,000 views as it circulated on social media: There's no truth to this rumor. "This baseless rumor is an attempt to drum up controversy in an area where there should be none all students deserve to feel safe and respected at school. In April 2022, a false rumor about a school district in Wisconsin implementing a set of "furry protocols" in order to deal with a rash of students who were "identifying as cats" was presented as genuine news on a conservative podcast. "I was hearing rumblings of this last year, but it really got bad when they went back to school this year. 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. I get to the third row and I hear this meow! Uhhh, excuse me? A couple of students identify as cats and demanded a litter box. It is unconscionable that this afternoon I am sending this communication, Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael Sharrow wrote in a community message Thursday. John DePetro Show 5 min read. Her campaign declined to answer questions about Ganahls claims, but in one interview with a local Fox affiliate, she suggested theres a lot of this going on in Jefferson County. They meow and they bark and they interact with their teachers in this fashion, Bostelman said during legislative debate. Thats the problem. The post garnered more than 1,000 interactions in less than two weeks. But this story is real. (LogOut/ However, by constantly celebrating their decisions as brave, holding parades, allowing them to compete in sporting events with biological women, naming them women of the year, or even acknowledging gender identity as something more than junk science, society merely reinforces disturbing behaviors. And it has not stopped some politicians from picking up these claims and using them to alarm people by saying that this is where protections for LGBTQ students will lead. This thing has gotten out of control with politicians just wanting to have a talking point, said John McDonald, former director of campus safety at Jefferson County schools, whos now a school security consultant. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook. Jan. 24, 2023, 2:31 PM PST. Lisa Hansen asked other parents to join her to do some investigating into the policy, Im all for creativity and imagination, but when someone lives in a fantasy world and expects other people to go along with it, I have a problem with that, Hansen told the Midland school board. WATCH LIVE: Merrick Garland testifies before Senate Judiciary Committee. Im just embarrassed by what this has gotten to," she said. The claim that a Wisconsin school district implemented furry protocols in order to deal with a wave of students identifying as cats is based almost entirely on one alleged email said to have been sent from a third-party (an anonymous student's grandmother) to a podcast host. Sorry, not a known recognizable language. Republican lawmakers in numerous states are attempting to pass bills that would require teachers to notify parents if their child is identifying as transgender at school. But it is important to recognize that the claim comes from a place of deep fear-mongering about creating LGBTQ2SIA+ inclusive spaces in our schools.". "She is non verbal and she crawls around making cat like noises and the school is perfectly fine with this behavior? Everyone should be sympathetic to her plight, but people should not be enabling her delusions. Tyler Kingkade is a national reporter for NBC News, based in Los Angeles. Interestingly, Pesta follows the slide about "furry protocols" with another false rumor about a teacher being fired for protesting against the installation of litterboxes at schools in Michigan for students who identified as cats. School provides litterbox for students who identify as cats? The woman'sname is Nano and she was 20 at the time the images were captured, according to the reports. NBC News spoke to three school-age furries who have posted on TikTok about the experience of being a furry at school. 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