Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. Furious I would even use that word., Ms. Hansen says in the video that there is an agenda that is being pushed through our schools is just my opinion but somewhat nefarious when it comes to some of the activities., She goes on to say that this is a nationwide issue, adding, 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.. In a message to the school district, Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow argued against the claims of litter boxes being provided for students that "identify as cats." (hutchyb // Canva) MIDLAND . Maddock did not respond to requests for comment. Furries do a similar thing, but with a twist. We are, after all, talking about a Republican physician who has spoken out against Covid vaccines and condemned efforts to stop the spread of the virus. But are litter boxes an integral part of the furry fandom? Furries are fans of animals that have human characteristics, such as talking or walking on their hind legs. ET. It comes out of this worry on the part of the American public that their children are going to be educated in ways that are not approved by them, Galguera says. 13, 2022 7:00 am, Updated: May. I still have a lot of social anxiety, but I feel more confident. The organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters.. She covers misinformation, extremism and the internet. Its about expressing her femininity as a transgender woman, she said. They enjoy bonding with like-minded others over things they have in common. Furries are a fandom, like anime, Star Trek or football. But it was two weeks ago when CNN ran a report about Jensen pushing a bizarre urban myth. Its no coincidence that Bunny, the only other furry who agreed to be interviewed for this story, is also transgender, Pratt said. Have you met sports fans who wear their teams jersey at a special event, such as a game, or a music fan who wears their favourite bands branded T-shirt? Strike said that most furries he encountered grew up with interests in anthropomorphic cartoon characters and now find comfort around others with the same interest. School districts in Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska have debunked claims that. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff. As the video circulated, the Midland superintendent issued a statement to clarify Hansens claim was false. Success. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. Remember, fursuits are prohibitively expensive, custom made, hard to clean, hot and bulky. Roberts said that in her research career, shes never heard of or seen an instance of a furry wanting a litter box. Its a fandom. Research also indicates that a fursona can help facilitate interactions with others and result in more social confidence. Furry fandom? Voir les partenaires de TheConversation France. 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. FOLLOW ME . Furries, a subculture of people who are interested in anthropomorphic animal characters and often dress up as them, are not directly connected to the LGBTQ community, but the hoax has still been used to ridicule LGBTQ students, Jentz said. 2 min read The post Joe Rogan Admits to Having "No Proof" That Schools Are Giving Furries Litter Boxes: "I Fed Into That" appeared first on. ), Last week, Joe Rogan, a prominent podcast host, said he has an unidentified friend whos married to a woman who works at an unidentified school that installed a litter box for a student who identifies as an animal.. Finalists for national Superintendent of the Year say education has always been political, but deepening rifts are creating new challenges. We always want to be the ones to tell our story.. Members of the "furries" fantasy subculture tell The Post they're not wild about this week's viral rumor that a Michigan school put a litter box in one of its bathrooms for "the kids . Studies and surveys show that furries are mostly male and white, and likely to not be straight. Weve lost our minds.. Its a fandom like anything else, she said, people expressing passion in a way thats good for them and having a community for it, a super safe space.. In a Houston taqueria, a customer shot and killed a robbery suspect. She attended her first furry event in 2016 and got her fursuit in 2020. 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.. Courtesy of AASA, The School Superintendents Association. When Bolduc spread the hoax about Pinkerton, it didnt take long for it to be picked up by local and some national media outlets. School Boards Are Limiting Public Comment. Young says she had to do a bit of diggingand she doesnt apologize for the punon the litter box rumor issue to respond to News@Northeasterns questions on the topic. People have sex and furries are people. Still, the untrue gossip is quite hurtful. If your knowledge of furries. What fitness marketers dont tell you about New Years resolutions. In Colorado, GOP gubernatorial nominee Heidi Ganahl insisted in several recent interviews that students were dressing and identifying as cats, disrupting class, and the states schools were tolerating it. 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 subculture. However, Strike believes examples such as these and the kitty litter tale are so extreme as to be pretty easy to laugh off while still raising awareness of the group. 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. The academy tweeted that political candidates are welcome to visit the campus before making claims about what occurs here.. By 1987, there was sufficient interest by people desiring to dress up like their favorite animals to stage the first furry convention. You can share 5 more gift articles this month. That has not stopped such rumors from circulating on social media, where they have been repeated like a game of telephone, often with descriptions of friends of friends who supposedly saw such things firsthand. 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. Theyre putting litter boxes, right? I wish I was making this up.. A lot of furries not the majority are transgender, she said, not always necessarily transfem. Mr. Sharrow did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday. 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.. Hi, to comment on stories you must create a commenting profile. What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is It Under Attack? Roberts, an associate professor at Renison University College, affiliated with the University of Waterloo in Canada, said that nearly all furries maintain distinct human personas and do not identify as animals. How George Santos got away with it (for now). However, our Midland PS stakeholders may be confused about a false message/accusation that has resurfaced this week and is gaining traction in the social media realm.. School board proposes banning furries after rumors of litter boxes in schools spread LGBTQNation 10/25/2022 Like 442 Comments | 778 A school board in North Carolina considered a. Many of the litter box rumors also fixate on cats. Why One Principal Is Asking Her Staff to Do Less, We Gave ChatGPT 5 Common Teaching Tasks. A. In 2021 and 2022, various American conservative and far-right politicians and . Thanks for contacting us. The spread of rumors about litter boxes has grown alongside other extreme and baseless rhetoric accusing LGBTQ people and educators of grooming children through lessons and policies on gender and sexuality. "It is unconscionable that this afternoon I . Theres a sense of I pay for what my kids learn that isnt the case in other countries that have a national curriculum, he says. Parent heroes will TAKE BACK our schools.. If your knowledge of furries comes mostly from television or social media, then what youve heard about furries is probably wrong. PA, offers box to stand on October 29, 2022; South Middleton School Board Appoints Lifetime District Resident as New Assistant to the Superintendent October 18, 2022; Its worth emphasizing that NBC News did identify one school district that kept cat litter on campuses for student use, but its a Colorado district the same district where the Columbine massacre occurred that approved the litter as part of go buckets to be used in the event of a school shooting. Furries are bullied at almost twice the rates of non-furries, and our forthcoming research indicates that four to 15 per cent are on the autism spectrum. The litter box rumor isnt the first hoax of its kind to circulate aboutand throughoutschools. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. NBC included the information in a report saying the kitty litter box rumors have become a GOP talking point in states including Colorado, Minnesota and Tennessee. Theyre perfectly nice people who like to dress up in furry costumes.. Like asking for a Star Fleet Communicator to be used at work, I suppose that anything is possible., I can tell you, as someone who has studied furries for over a decade, the purported behavior of asking for litter boxes in restrooms is not supported by the research, Roberts says, referring to the rumor as a type of moral panic.. For many furries, the fandom is a way to build social connections with others. Theres no such thing as a litter box at a furry convention.. Another gawker wondered how the litter box system would even work, writing: Logistically no public school has the budget to afford kitty litter for a small percentage of their community to use also ask yourself the last janitor youve met would they scoop human feces out of a litter box?. The rise of the litter box rumor shows the power of false claims that start on social media to shape political discourse. What are we doing to our kids? They might dress up as a storm trooper or superhero and attend a comic book convention to have fun with friends. At a luncheon for Republican women in Mesa County, Colorado, last week, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., warned that educators are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats.. A member of the public who spoke at the meeting, Lisa Hansen, says in the video that she was informed by someone the day before the meeting that litter boxes had been added to the unisex bathrooms for students who identify as cats., I was stunned, Ms. Hansen says in the video. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. 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. The only animals allowed in public schools are for the blind or those with a medical condition requiring a dog. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. 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. [Someone who] cosplays as Captain Kirk is unlikely to show up for work on Monday and demand that their phone be replaced with a Star Fleet Communicator, she said. At face value, this might seem like another example of folks on the right embracing yet another weird myth because it was circulated by Republicans who ought to know better. In December 2021, a community member shared the rumor during the public comment section of a Midland Public School Board meeting in Michigan that was later debunked by the school district. The character you choose is known as your fursona. And according to Bunny, a fursona is sometimes just waiting to be acknowledged. This content is provided by our sponsor. For media inquiries, please contact media@northeastern.edu. 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. The rumor, which has been repeated by several Republican nominees around the country as well as making the rounds of cocktail parties, has been repeatedly shot down by fact finding, including an Oct. 31 rebuke of Bolduc by Pinkerton Academy in Derry, New Hampshire. Some children, she alleged, would only communicate in barks and hisses. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) A rumor going around on social media has been raising some eyebrows. Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Lisa Hansen addressing the board during a Midland Public Schools meeting in Michigan last month. In an episode of Spotifys The Joe Rogan Experience podcast this week, host Joe Rogan told former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard that a litter box was installed in a school that his friends wife worked at for a girl who identifies as an animal. A clip of the discussion quickly began to circulate on social media. Even though they arent new, school hoaxes and rumors have become more political in recent years, said Cathy Kedjidjian, president of the National School Public Relations Association. Despite current slump of tech giants, strong growth seen in computer science job market for Khoury students, Holiday gifts already delivered, but rail strike would be catastrophic in other ways, Northeastern expert warns, New highly transmissible COVID-19 subvariant wont swamp US hospitals, Northeastern experts predict, How a new law requiring food labels to include sesame resulted in an explosion of products containingsesame, Study analyzes why Black people in Maine are more likely than white people to be arrested in traffic stops. In other words, if you removed all the sexual content, there would still be a furry fandom. To a person not steeped in the culture war battles over gender identity that have engulfed school districts nationwide, its the kind of claim that would sound bizarre and confusing and, from high-profile GOP members, authoritative. The initial reaction was, really? Heres what you need to know. The post quickly went viral, racking up nearly 860,000 video views on Twitter. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. 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I am hopeful that once these stories are debunked furries will become better known and people who are anthropomorphically inclined will see that theyre part of something, he said, explaining that, Stories like these [help future furries realize] theyre not alone and isolated., Michael Kaplan contributed to this report. The fandom provides a social network for its members, and furries can benefit tremendously from these friendships. A Facebook post says schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as furries. Some fursuits are phenomenally engineered with fans, cooling packs and LED lights built into them. Were his actions justified? When asked by NBC News for evidence to support her assertion, Lauf referred to an anonymous far-right blog that claimed a student was permitted to wear a furry suit to school in Hinsdale, Illinois. Reply. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel. She has a bunny outfit, and her employer, Walmart, allows her to wear a bunny tail and mask while working. Yes. Furries . I really hope they stop repeating that (rumor), Young says. This story has been shared 104,401 times. Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles. For example, someone who goes to a Star Trek convention and cosplays as Captain Kirk is unlikely to show up for work on Monday and demand their phone be replaced with a Star Fleet Communicator and their supervisor beam them over to building B.. But the claim has taken on a life of its own among a growing number of Republicans, conservative influencers and political commentators. Educators of color say its often another person seeing their potential and pushing themthat got them into leadership.