A confused Midwestern politician faces public ridicule after alleging schools are leaving litter boxes for children who identify as cats.
Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican in the Nebraska state legislature, made the claim during a videotaped debate on education funding that garnered more than half a million social media views in a matter of hours.
Bostelman said he was “a little shocked” by stories of kids dressing up in cat and dog costumes, with teachers condoning the trend and even accommodating by leaving litter boxes in bathrooms.
“It’s called furries. If you don’t know what furries are, this is where school kids dress up as animals — cats or dogs — during the school day,” Bostelman said during Monday’s debate.
Nebraska State Senator Bruce Bostelman has apologized after citing a persistent but debunked rumor that schools were putting litter boxes in school bathrooms
The debunked rumor about students identifying themselves as cats surfaced on a Facebook message board
“They meow and bark and interact that way with their school, with their teachers. And now schools want to put litter boxes in schools for these kids to use. How is that hygienic?’
The baseless rumor lingered in a private Facebook group, Protect Nebraska Children, and also surfaced in an Iowa school district last month, forcing the superintendent to write parents saying it was “simply and decidedly not true.” .
Bostelman had said he plans to raise the issue with the CEO of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
He also claimed that schools do not allow children to wear flag pins, but gave no specific examples.
In 2016, the Lincoln Public School District briefly requested students not to fly American flags from their vehicles after a flag was pulled by its holder, but school officials later apologized.
Bostelman, a conservative Republican, claimed it should accommodate children who self-identify as cats. Depicted, furry enthusiasts, a subculture whose adherents express an interest in anthropomorphic or half-human, half-animal creatures in literature, cartoons, pop culture, or other artistic contexts
The false claim that children who identify as cats use litter boxes in school lavatories has been circulating the Internet since at least December, when a member of the public brought it up at a Midland Public Schools board meeting northwest of Detroit.
The claim was refuted by the district superintendent, who issued a statement saying there have “never been litter boxes in MPS schools.”
Still, the baseless rumor has spread across the country and become fuel for political candidates amid the culture wars and legislative measures on gender identification in schools.
The excitement about public school bathrooms comes as more conservative states are seeking legislation to ban transgender students from using gender-consistent bathrooms.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes a “furry” as someone who has a keen interest in, or dresses up as, animal characters with human personalities, such as those seen in comic books, video games, and cartoons.
Many furries are inspired by iconic pop culture figures like Sonic the Hedgehog or the rabbits from the 1972 novel Watership Down — though they usually role-play in characters of their own making
Furries describe themselves as anthropomorphic actors, and the movement has roots in science fiction and fantasy genres that date back to the 1980s
WHAT ARE FURRIES? HOW PEOPLE CREATE “FURSONAS” IN THE ANIMAL COSTUME COMMUNITY
Furries are people who dress up as animals and identify as the chosen animal, often as a sexual fetish.
There’s a lot more to the furry fandom than just the “Therians” — or people who, according to FurScience, feel spiritually connected to animals.
Furries represent fans of anthropomorphic animal media and can include artists, writers, gamers, and role-players.
Most create a “fursona,” or humanized animal figure, for themselves to interact with the community.
Demographics: More than 75% of furries are younger than 25
Approximately 84% identify as male, while 13% are female and 2.5% are transgender. Most furries (83.2%) are white
About a third identify as “exclusively straight,” but research has shown that furries are “about five times more likely to identify as exclusively homosexual than the general population.”
Children are not usually members of the subculture, which sometimes includes sexual aspects such as erotic art and furry cybersex.
Many furries are inspired by iconic pop culture figures like Sonic the Hedgehog or the rabbits from the 1972 novel Watership Down — though they usually role-play in characters of their own making.
“Many furries create their own animal character, known as a fursona, to act as their avatar within furry communities,” medical website WebMD says.
Bostelman’s comments prompted widespread mockery, but also an angry reaction from the furry community and their allies, who pointed out that followers go to the bathroom the same way everyone else does.
“That’s not what furries do at all. And litter boxes? Dude, they’re human and they know they’re human,” fumed one Twitter user.
The debunked rumor is a surreal twist on the heated debate in the United States about transgender students and their right to use gender-appropriate bathrooms and participate in school sports.
Various versions of the story have circulated about school districts in several Midwestern states in recent months, all false.
Bostelman said he plans to raise the issue with Nebraska health officials and even shared an anecdote about a student who defecated on the floor after teachers refused to provide a litter box.
Hours after his remarks, Bostelman backed down and conceded that the story was untrue.
He said he checked the claims with Senator Lynne Walz, a Democrat who chairs the Legislature’s Education Committee, and confirmed there had been no such incidents.
Social media users welcomed the opportunity to poke fun at Bostelman’s comments
“I just felt like if this really happens, we need to take care of it quickly,” Bostelman said.
“My soul left my body,” said fellow Democrat Megan Hunt, recalling the moment Bostelman broached the issue.
Hunt reported on Twitter that lawmakers took the floor again after a lunch break to say they reached out to some schools and found their information was inaccurate.
“He apologizes to Furries,” Hunt said.
Hours after his remarks, Bostelman backed down and conceded that the story was untrue. “I just felt like if this really happens, we need to take care of it quickly,” Bostelman said