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. Theyre perfectly nice people who like to dress up in furry costumes.. 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.". When they dont like something, they hiss and get this, get this, theyre putting litter boxes [in schools] for them.. 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.. Ive always been pretty outgoing, but its nice to be even more outgoing.. 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. School litter box fever will not die in Iowa. Roberts also noted that the vast majority of furries characters are wild or mythical animals, who wouldnt use a litter box in the first place. Without merit at all, says Lydia Young, teaching professor for Northeasterns Graduate School of Education and faculty lead for the teacher licensure program. There is a real subculture of people known as furries, a community of children and adults who roleplay as anthropomorphized animal characters. 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. However, misunderstanding furries was mainstream long before it became political. 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. Within a few months, similar rumors began to spread in the U.S., where they quickly became culture war fodder. Thats not a big leap from her natural optimism and cheerfulness, she said. It is a shame that the furry community still endures (some) negative media portrayals and public misperception as deviants because the truth of this remarkable and resilient community is far more interesting, Dr. Sharon E. Roberts, associate professor at the University of Waterloo and a co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, told The Post. Please wait for the page to reload. I feel really good, and I feel like myself when Im wearing these things.. From abortion to book bans, critical race theory and transgender rights, much political rhetoric in the run-up to the mid-term elections in the United States has centered around culture war issues. Is it any less authentic? I just cant believe this is real, sputtered one incredulous commenter, while another wrote, Whats going on in this town?. Students arent achieving academically, socially, behaviorally, or emotionally. I believe there will be three types of people that read this. Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles. to accommodate students who identify as cats, the Public Schools Branch says. Logic isn't connecting for me, nor can I google anything about itit, but I am baffled as to why conservatives in our area are now obsessed with furries. Many of these assertions claim that schools have or are in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools.. Customers get a kick out of it and kids really like it., Shes been a bunny for about a year, she said. They talk about why people like being furries. And we just wanted to try to knock that noise down at the very least at the local level.. Can digital traces from internet searches and social media predict outbreaks of COVID-19? Bunny considers herself a furry those who enjoy dressing like an animal. A lot of people only have digital relationships, so its cool to get together.. All of the claims have been debunked, often by school leaders themselves who posted statements on social media and school websites to limit the rumors spread. A Michigan superintendent had to refute a wild rumor that a litter box was provided in a school bathroom for students who identify as cats last week after a video of a parent raising the claim at a school board meeting spread on social media. For instance, in 2017, Scott Chamberlain, a councilman from New Milford, Conn., wasforced to resign when it came to light that he was a furry. A Facebook post says schools are putting litter boxes in bathrooms to accommodate kids who identify as furries. Roberts said that in her research career, shes never heard of or seen an instance of a furry wanting a litter box. People have sex and furries are people. 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. As my colleague, Courtney Plante, says: For most folks, dehydration, lack of feeling or seeing anything, overheating and clumsiness are not conducive to sexual arousal. NBC News agreed to keep their last names private due to their fear of harassment. 13, 2022 7:00 am, Updated: May. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page. School districts in Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska have debunked claims that. Several posts to the story suggested it was rumor and that, certainly, employees were not allowed to wear fursuits at work. Mick Pratt of Westbrook wears her Pixil fursuit at a convention in Chicago in December. I ordered a bunny outfit on a whim and ended up really loving it.. Terry Brenner, superintendent, Grand Forks school district, Grand Forks, N.D. 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. Brandy Zadrozny is a senior reporter for NBC News. Dont expect to find litter boxes at the convention, says Sharon E. Roberts, a Canadian academic and co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project/Furscience, which studies furry fandom from sociological, social, psychological and clinical perspectives.. 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. They might dress up as a storm trooper or superhero and attend a comic book convention to have fun with friends. 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. The furry community is constantly fending off misperceptions, though. In fact, the fandom has been studied and analyzed by the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. She doesnt feel super different in costume, she said. 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. He later retracted his comments after finding out they werent true, according to reporting by the Associated Press. The Jefferson County school district disputed Ganahls claims and said its dress code prohibits costumes at school. 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. In his comments, Bolduc specifically mentioned Pinkerton Academy, a high school in Derry, N.H., that serves both public and private, tuition-paying students. Every school district that has been named by those 20 politicians said either to NBC News or in public statements that these claims are untrue. 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. 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. The rumor of litter boxes in schools appears to have begun among parents on social media, and one of the first schools to confront the falsehood was in Canada last fall. Screenshot. Her favorite breakout group has been with psychologists who are furries, she said. The Campaign for Grade-Level Reading & the EdWeek Research Center, reporting from the Colorado Times Recorder. Mick Pratt, 35, of Westbrook designed her partial costume and her character. Bolduc is among a group of Republican politicians and pundits who spread the same hoax throughout the campaign cycle, causing communications crises for school leaders. Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow took to Facebook on Thursday to deny the claims, insisting no litter box accommodations had been made for any students who identify as a "furry." Don Bolduc, Republican candidate for New Hampshire senator, is one of the latest conservative politicians to repeat the hearsay that . Others wear partials. Bolduc ultimately lost his race against Democratic incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan. While its commonly believed that sexuality plays a large role in the socializing of furry friends, Strike insisted that only a small number of his comrades engage in sexual acts while dressed in their outfits. Therefore, if you identify as a dog or cat you can no longer go to a public school because animals are not allowed. Benjamin Santos of Sumner runs a website that lists all such conventions around the country. A Michigan school district has debunked a wild claim that a school provided litter boxes for students who identified as furries people who dress up as anthropomorphic animals. Its not something you become, its something you realize you are, Bunny said in a recent phone interview. A woman named Lisa Hansen first raised the issue at a December 20 meeting of the Midland Public Schools Board, a . Reply. A couple of misunderstandings are that furries have fur fetishes or that they are psychologically dysfunctional, Plante wrote. Andy Cross / Denver Post via Getty Images. Litter Boxes for Students Who Identify as Furries? The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] - A hearing of a Tennessee Legislature Committee has surpassed thousands of views online, where two state lawmakers report that their constituents say that there are children in Tennessee identifying as "furries" being allowed to use the restroom in litter boxes at school. Delusional, transphobic antics had quite the moment this past weekend, with a cohort of Michigan parents bravely speaking out against a problem that definitely exists: litter boxes for furries in a local school's bathrooms. Theres no such thing as a litter box at a furry convention.. The buckets also contain candy for diabetic students, a map of the school, flashlights, wet wipes and first aid items. NSF official wants to catalyze research partnerships to tackle pressing societal challenges. Create one. Another 50 per cent of furries own furry paraphernalia a furry T-shirt, ears, collar or tail that communicates their furry interests to others. But what about education? Jensen said. Don't have a commenting profile? Not So, Says School Official, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/23/us/politics/michigan-litter-box-school.html. 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. Were a small group of interdisciplinary professors who have studied furries and other fan groups for more than 15 years. Accountability is not a crime.. So far, the Rumor Has It page has been helpful in combatting harmful rumors and gathering positive feedback from the community, Grand Forks Superintendent Terry Brenner said. 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. Furries do a similar thing, but with a twist. Put simply, furries are fans, he wrote, in the same way that Star Trek fans are fans of Star Trek and sports fans are fans of sports., The fandom is inclusive, he wrote, and embraces the norms of being welcoming and nonjudgmental to all.. Jordan Mendoza, USA TODAY 1/24/2022. 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 . 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. . Furries are people who have an interest in anthropomorphism, which specifically refers to giving human characteristics to animals. But other politicians who spread the rumor, including Boebert in Colorado, won. 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. It feels like everyone has an opinion, or heard a rumour, about kids dressing up as animals, calling themselves furries and demanding litter boxes. 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. 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. When shes in her fursuit, Bunny feels like a Looney Tunes cartoon character, she said. Catalina Lauf, a Republican congressional nominee in Illinois, tweeted this month that schoolchildren were using litter boxes in her state. How an urban myth about litter boxes in schools became a GOP talking point At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify. She says being a furry is a fun hobby or fandom. You can share 5 more gift articles this month. Im a co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, also known as Furscience. 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. And during a legislative hearing last month in Tennessee, two Republican state lawmakers discussed the growing crisis of public schools providing litter boxes for children who identify as cats, and claimed its happening across the state. Heres why. bizarre concession at a Dec. 20 board meeting. Associate professor, Social Development Studies, University of Waterloo. 1901), Lexpertise universitaire, lexigence journalistique. Custodial staff CANNOT be required to clean up litter boxes. Lead Stories has published debunks of similar claims made elsewhere in the United States that students are dressing like "furries" and asking for litter boxes in the restrooms. The writer, not identified by name, posted a piece in October alleging confirmed reports of furries employed at Bath Iron Works. Yes. 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.. According to Furscience, a website run by a multidisciplinary team of scientists studying furry fandom, furry describes a diverse community of fans, artists, writers, gamers, and role players.. The inclusive nature of the furry fandom means that, for many furries, its a safe place where they can be their most authentic selves. She is a co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project/Furscience. The fandom is centered around an interest in anthropomorphism, or human characteristics given to animals, according to Sharon Roberts, co-founder of a furry research group called Furscience. Heidi Ganahl, the Republican nominee for governor of Colorado, speaks at a forum in Denver on Sept. 30. It is a constant suspicion of schools that they are not doing what they should be doing, which gives rise to all these crazy ideas such as the notion there are going to be litter boxes in schools.. The litter boxes rumor circulated on social media and local radio shows earlier this year. 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