By Tyler Kingkade, Ben Goggin, Ben Collins and Brandy Zadrozny -
NBC News
At a luncheon for Republican women in Mesa County, Colorado, Rep. Lauren Boebert warned that teachers "are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats."
If you're not already familiar with the cultural battles over gender identity that have engulfed school districts across the country, this statement will sound strange and confusing – and coming from high-profile members of the Republican Party – authoritative.
Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen asked on September 29 during his campaign, “Why do we have sandboxes in some school districts, is it so children can pee in them because they are identified as furry animals?”
A month ago, during a legislative hearing in Tennessee, two Republican lawmakers spoke of a "growing crisis" in public schools, which they say is statewide, that give litter boxes to children who identify as cats.
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Sept.
5, 202202:06
At least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials said this year that schools are putting in litter boxes or making other accommodations for those who identify as cats, according to a review of public statements by NBC News, sister network of Noticias Telemundo.
All of the school districts cited by these 20 politicians have clarified to NBC News, or have said in statements, that the claims are false.
There is no evidence that any school offered litter boxes for students to use
because they identify as cats.
False rumors on social networks
But this bogus claim has gained popularity among Republicans, public figures, and political commentators.
In an episode of the
Spotify
podcast
The Joe Rogan Experience
, host Joe Rogan assured former MP Tulsi Gabbard that a litter box was installed at the school where a friend's wife worked for a girl who "identifies like an animal."
[A Republican congressman went to his gay son's wedding after voting against same-sex marriage]
A clip of the discussion circulated on social media.
Rogan did not name the college, and his publicist did not respond to a request for comment.
There is a community of children and adults, known as
furries
, – furro among Latino fans – who play at being animal characters with human characteristics, but a large part continues to identify as people, even if they participate in role-playing games, according to experts.
One of them clarified that there are no sandboxes at
furry
conventions .
Three school-age members of the community told NBC News that they have sometimes come to school dressed in costumes of masks or gloves that simulate legs, but that
they have never heard any of them ask for a litter box.
False rumors about sandboxes in classrooms have gained traction in recent months. Robert Beatty / NBC News
That has not prevented false rumors from circulating on social networks, where they have been shared as a game in which the stories of friends of friends who supposedly saw it are repeated.
Some politicians have picked up on these claims and use them to alarm people saying this is the result of protecting LGBTQ students.
"What's most provocative about this hoax is the way it focuses on two key issues for conservatives: educational accommodations and gender nonconformity," said Joan Donovan, director of research at the Shorenstein Center for Media, Politics, and Policy. Harvard University Public Schools and co-author of
Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America
.
The rise of this hoax shows the power of false claims that start on social networks to become part of the discourse and how some elements are quickly distorted and mixed to create viral discourses amplified by politicians and commentators.
Why attack the most vulnerable to defend your point of view, especially when the point is baseless?
Nadine Bridges DIRECTOR OF ONE COLORADO
“It is only used to sensationalize and harm our community, particularly transgender, non-binary and gender diverse youth,” said Nadine Bridges, director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ rights organization, when asked about the rumors of The sandbox.
"Why attack the most vulnerable to defend your point of view, especially when the point is unfounded?"
NBC News found a school district that has kitty litter on its campus for students to use, but it is not linked to children identifying as animals.
[A family allegedly attacked and blinded a man, claiming he was responsible for their son being gay]
In Colorado, Republican gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl insisted in several interviews that students dressed and identified as cats, disrupting classes, and that schools tolerated it.
Some children, he alleged, communicated only with barks and whistles.
His campaign declined to answer questions about Ganahl's claims, but in an interview with a local Fox affiliate, he suggested "there are a lot more cases" in Jefferson County.
The Jefferson County School District disputed Ganahl's claims, saying
its dress code prohibits costumes at school
.
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The district — which is home to Columbine High School, home to a 1999 shooting that left 15 fatalities — has stocked classrooms with small amounts of kitty litter since 2017, as part of "emergency buckets" containing supplies in case of emergency. that students are locked in a classroom during another shooting.
These buckets also contain candy for diabetic students, a map of the school, flashlights, baby wipes and first aid supplies.
“This has gotten out of hand with politicians just wanting to have a conversation
piece,” said John McDonald, a former director of safety at Jefferson County schools and now a school safety consultant.
A wave of misinformation
The wave of disinformation reflects the discontent of many conservatives with how concepts and politics of gender identity are changing.
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As more people, especially young people, identify as trans or non-binary, anti-LGBTQ legislation pushed by conservative politicians has also increased.
The spread of rumors, such as the one about sandboxes, has grown alongside other extreme and baseless rhetoric accusing LGBTQ people and educators of “indoctrinating” children with lessons and policies on gender and sexuality.
In debates about school policies related to transgender and non-binary youth, some politicians warned that children acted like cats.
Tim Kraayenbrink, a Republican senator from Iowa, alleged at a forum in May that local schools put sandboxes in the bathroom for “the furry ones” to use, while arguing about allowing transgender students to use the bathroom they conforms to their gender identity.
He later acknowledged to a local newspaper that it did not verify that his claim was true, and he did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
A month ago, Republican Brendan Shea, a member of the Ohio Board of Education, introduced a resolution opposing civil rights protections for LGBTQ students.
While arguing in favor of his proposal, he assured that: “we have children who think they are cats and dogs using litter boxes in the classrooms”.
Shea did not respond to requests for comment.
The rumor of the sandboxes seems to have started in social networks among parents and one of the first schools to deal with the issue is in Canada.
Rumors that "cause unnecessary stress"
In a Facebook post dated October 19, 2021, the Prince Edward Island Public Schools Directorate explained that for several months it received “calls, emails and many social media posts claiming there were students identifying themselves as cats. and that schools have or are in the process of installing sandboxes.”
“This statement, as well as many others, are simply false
and are causing unnecessary stress to students and staff,” responded Norbert Carpenter, director of the schools.
I don't go out with a tail, gloves, ears or animal heads on a normal day."
Olivia identifies as furry
In just a few months, similar rumors have spread and become part of the culture war in the United States.
In December 2021, conservative activist Lisa Hansen claimed at a Midland, Michigan, school board meeting that a school in the district placed “a litter box for children who identify as cats” in a
unisex
bathroom as “part of the agenda that is being promoted”.
Hansen -- who later founded a local chapter of Moms for Liberty, a conservative activist group -- did not respond to requests for comment.
["Don't say gay": Florida approves the controversial law that prohibits talking in class about sexual orientation or gender identity]
On January 20, Meshawn Maddock, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, fueled the rumor by posting on Facebook that "kids who identify as 'furries' have a litter box in the bathroom at school," with a link to a activist parent group.
The following day, the popular conservative Twitter account Libs of TikTok tweeted the clip of conservative activist Lisa Hansen at the school board meeting.
The post went viral, amassing nearly 860,000 views.
As the video circulated, the Midland superintendent clarified that Hansen's claim was false.
Libs of TikTok pointed it out in a subsequent tweet, questioning why no one clarified it at the school board meeting, where some applauded after Hansen weighed in.
Maddock did not respond to requests for comment.
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In April, three Republican lawmakers from Minnesota took turns during floor debate talking about rumors they heard about children poking holes in uniforms for their tails and using litter boxes.
That same month, school board candidates in Arkansas and Tennessee made similar comments, and Jennifer Benson, a school board member in Fargo, North Dakota, told a local outlet that children wore leashes to school and used boxes. of sand.
Catalina Lauf, a Republican congressional candidate from Illinois, tweeted this month that students used them in her state, too.
“Many parents and teachers have privately confided in me about the insanity that is happening with this trend,” Lauf told NBC News in an email.
She declined to provide the contacts of the parents or teachers she spoke with.
Asked by NBC News for evidence to back up his claim, Lauf referred to an anonymous far-right blog that says a student at a school in Hinsdale, Illinois, was allowed to wear a fur suit.
The school district called the story "inaccurate" and said it would not allow it.
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Beyond Republican politicians and officials, many social media users have echoed the rumor, especially on Facebook and TikTok.
On Facebook, public posts cite cases of unidentified grandchildren or neighbors, from Florida to California.
Some say that the litter boxes are in the "transgender toilets" of schools.
A post calling for action to be taken has been shared more than 31,000 times.
Meanwhile, on TikTok, a video claiming that “kids ask for sandboxes at school” racks up 3 million views.
Another clip of a user requesting that schools stop admitting "furry" got more than a million views.
Furries
are
part of a subculture that has been established for decades.
Their fans are centered around an interest in anthropomorphism, that is, in the human characteristics of animals, according to Sharon Roberts, co-founder of a furry research group called
Furscience
.
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Roberts – a professor at Renison University College, affiliated with the University of Waterloo, in Canada – says that almost all
furries
maintain a distinct human personality and do not identify as animals.
Furscience's pre-publication surveys and research also indicate that the majority are LGBTQ, with as many as one-third transgender.
Roberts clarified that in her research career, she has never heard or seen a case of a
furry
wanting a litter box.
She also pointed out that
most of the characters that inspire them are wild or mythical animals, who would not use a litter box.
“I have studied more than 40,000
furries
from 70 different countries for a decade,” he said.
"There is no such thing as a sandbox at a
furry
convention ."
I've never heard a furry say they want to use a litter box.
These rumors put us at risk of being hurt or intimidated.”
Kymera IDENTIFIES AS FURRY
NBC News spoke with three school-age
furries
who have commented on TikTok about their experience at school.
NBC News leaves their last names out of fear of being harassed.
Olivia, 16, from California, said she has been part of the
furry
community for six years.
"I don't go out with a tail, gloves, ears or animal heads on a normal day,"
she clarified in an email.
When she has worn part of her outfit to school "I don't act like an animal, nor do I think I am."
Dayna, 15, who lives in Canada, said she wears a mask and tail to school every day, but wears them only at lunch and keeps them in her backpack during class.
“I like wearing them because it's a way to show my creativity and something to talk about with my friends.
I have actually made new friends at school because of it,” she assured.
Kymera, 14, from Colorado, said being a
furry
is "a
hobby
," akin to being a mascot or dummy on a sports team.
"I've never heard a
furry
say they want to use a litter box,
" Kymera said.
“These rumors put us at risk of being hurt or intimidated.”
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