Sheryl, if you have the name of the school district, and you can show me proof in the form of a written school policy, and put me in touch with your teacher friend in Georgia who can give me verifiable details, Ill be happy to write another follow-up article. John DePetro Show Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. LGBTQ2SIA+ is the acronym used by Basic Rights Oregon and other advocacy groups to describe those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, two-spirit, intersexual, asexual and/or other varying genders and sexualities. 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." Lisa. We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. Just wondering, if you identify yourself as a cat, If you are sick do you see a doctor or a veterenarian? "Apparently, from what I understand, theyre called 'furries,'" the grandmother, who asked to remain anonymous, told WLKY. READ MORE:Anti-monarchy activists 'turn Buckingham Palace into polling station', But no, the school, the school resources and the other students and teachers should not have to be put through that because its a lie and we have to reject them.. Six Republican members of the North Dakota Legislature introduced a bill Wednesday that would send a clear message to nonhuman-identified students . Michigan had installed litter boxes in order to appease students who had started identifying as cats, there's no evidence that any schools in Michigan installed litterboxes for their students. / students identifying as cats. In a follow-up video the teacher admitted she made up the story to create awareness of what kids are going through at school. She didnt elaborate, so its not clear if she was criticizing school policies for allowing students to identify as different genders or arguing that kids needs arent accommodated. Did a Michigan School District Install Litter Boxes in Bathrooms? Snopes.Com, https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/litter-boxes-bathrooms/. Kymera, 14, of Colorado, said being a furry is just a hobby, akin to being a mascot. Seriously, Parents are allowing their kids to think they are cats! Follow her on Twitter@NataliePateGwin. Then, there was the news of Target permitting transgender people to use fitting rooms and restrooms aligned with their gender identity, not their biological sex. It started when a video of a central Michigan school board meetingwent viral in mid-January after aparent claimed a"nefarious" agendahad taken hold of public schools in her county. "She said its not a new problem. Either she was paid to lie by the democrats about this TRUE movement by the democrat back kids movement to get special privledges ) like LBGTQ and BLM followers .. Hi John: Im a guy and I make no money from this site other than through ads, which I only enabled a month ago. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. Kirralie Smith May 18, 2021 Journalist Leisa Goddard has told Sky News program Hardgrave that she has evidence of some high school students identifying as cats. The district's superintendent said in a public statement that "there have never been litter boxes within (Midland Public) schools.". I was told by a teacher friend in Georgia that this is true in her state as well. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The woman'sname is Nano and she was 20 at the time the images were captured, according to the reports. We have excellent schools here. Many people are doing what amounts to an experiment on these young people without telling them its an experiment. We have excellent schools here. Psychologists say furries arent the deviants theyre sometimes represented to be. Description. At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats. This whole furry thing has just got me. Olivia, 16, from California, said shes been part of the furry community for six years. [Doctors] dont have evidence that [the treatment] will be the right one, McHugh said in 2019. The postfrom Peggy Hubbard, who lost a recentIllinois Republican U.S. Senate primary, implies a connection to a U.S. school district, but the pictures don't show an American public school student or anything recent. 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. florida porkfish regulations; nicholas letourneau georgetown. Two curious stories relating to cats have been circulating online this week: In the first story, a substitute teacher claims she was fired because she refused to meow back to a student who "identifies as a cat," while parents in a Michigan school district were infuriated by a rumor that the district was providing litter boxes to cat-identified Brogan, Dylan. 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. 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. Be a serious parent or parents. A TikTok user in a video that has gone viral claimed falsely that she was fired from a school after failing to respect a student's decision to identify as a cat. WATCH: New Buddy Wildlife Documentary Premieres OnPITB! 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. The conspiracy appears to be linked to concerns around LGBT+ identities being affirmed in the education system. In the Dec. 21, 2021, YouTube video, which has over80,000 views, Lisa Hansen says during the Midland Public Schools board meeting she had been told there wasa litter box in the bathroom of at least one local school for students who self-identify as cat "furries. Ive actually made new friends at school because of it, Dayna said in an email. Rumors claiming schools are putting litter boxes in restrooms for students who identify as cats have spread across the United States this year, and have now reached Salem. "This is a young lady who is exceptional (sic) bright, her family petitioned the school board for right to 'identify as a cat," reads part of a Sept. 23 Facebook post featuring the images. It was"unconscionable" that he was addressing the rumor, Sharrow said,but he felt it necessary to do so because of its renewed spread on social media. Click here to sign up for our fact-check text chat, Communication Regarding False Accusation Made at December MPS Board of Education Meeting, Litter Boxes for Students Who Identify as Furries? These situations have been addressed consistently by administration and the dress code policy will continue to be implemented with fidelity. A Midland, Michigan, middle school student told the school board last fall some of her classmates identify as cats and dogs. "I was hearing rumblings of this last year, but it really got bad when they went back to school this year. "At a recent school board meeting, it was revealed that a Michigan school placed a LITTER BOXES in the bathroom for students that identify as cats," user Jovan Pulitzer captioned the video in the Facebook post. ! After we confirmed North Kingstown is allowing students to identify as cats, we have now learned another school district is allowing a student to identify as a dog.The school is trying to deal with a student who dresses as a dog, lays on the floor, eats food out of a bowl on the floor and barks and growls at other students. While Pesta claims that this woman was fired, she was not fired. In the days before McKenna appeared on Peta's podcast, Pesta gave a few presentations that mentioned this alleged email. Because weve gone insane as a society, of course, and basic reality now means different things to different people depending on their political ideologies. NBC News agreed to keep their last names private due to their fear of harassment. At some point, even the wokest of the woke have to see the calamitous problems they have created. 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. However, as USA TODAY reported, the district's superintendent shut downthe rumor soon after Maddock shared the video on Jan. 20. Furthermore, there's no evidence that any schools in Michigan installed litterboxes for their students. And it demonstrates how quickly some elements of truth can be twisted and mashed up with fully debunked assertions to create a viral narrative amplified by prominent politicians, as well as commentators with large audiences. First, the obvious, or perhaps not-so-obvious considering the media attention and outrage surrounding both stories: Neither one is true. You need evidence for that, and this is a very serious treatment.. Be supportive of students who share their differences. "Two-spirit" is a term used by some Native Americans to describe community members who identify with a third gender or other gender variants. North Kingstown Councilwoman Mary Brimer sounded the alarm after hearing stories from parents of the school installing litter boxes at a school in a special section hidden from view. In 2021 and 2022, various American conservative and far-right politicians and media personalities promoted the hoax in response to . An Iowa newspaper reported some students in a small town identified as cats. At least 20 Republican politicians have claimed that schools are making accommodations for students who identify as cats. The New York Times, USA TODAY, Politifact, Reuters and Snopes, among other publications, wrote articles confirming the claims were unfounded. The false claim that children who identify as cats are using litter boxes in school bathrooms has spread across the internet since at least December, when a member of the public brought it up at a . If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can The conversation will go back to what it should be about people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. 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. How is this sanitary?. The #1 Way To Support This Channel Is Backing Me On SubscribeStarhttps://www.subscribestar.com/thequarteringBecome A Youtube Member! The grandmother said a petition to end the practice was created by students and has more than 1,000 signatures. "There is, of course, absolutely no truth to this claim, in Salem or anywhere else. Go to the fifth roweverybodys there. former QAnon supporter and Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene. Accessed 5 Apr. email: John@depetro.com. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. The email was also published in a regional Facebook group. 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, according to an NBC News review of public statements. In an Oct. 19, 2021, Facebook post, the Public Schools Branch of Prince Edward Island said that for several months it had fielded calls, been sent emails and been pointed to numerous social media posts that make broad sweeping assertions regarding students who identify as cats. A Wisconsin school district has a set of "furry protocols" that allows students to identify as cats. If we do encounter a verifiable story about a school district doing that, Ill absolutely write about it. But there's no truth to the rumor there's a litter box in unisex . The wave of misinformation reflects discontent among many conservatives around how the concepts and politics of gender identity are rapidly shifting. Rumors began to surface that these students were permitted to use litter boxes in bathrooms to. Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael Sharrow said: There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. That same month, school board candidates in Arkansas and Tennessee made similar remarks, and Jennifer Benson, a school board member in Fargo, North Dakota, told a local news outlet children were wearing leashes to school and using litter boxes. 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. Regardless of what you have or have not heard about furries, it might surprise you to learn that there is a team of researchers who have devoted their careers to studying this fandom, Hal Herzog wrote for Psychology Todays Animals and Us column in 2017. And no, one seems to want to stop this and instead encourage it in their schools. No Left Turn in Education, a Leading Anti-Critical Race Theory Group, Frequently Pushes Toxic Rhetoric in Media. Media Matters for America, https://www.mediamatters.org/education/no-left-turn-education-leading-anti-critical-race-theory-group-frequently-pushes-toxic. One student was apparently disciplined for pulling on the tail of one of the cat identifying students who was seen hissing at students in the cafeteria. An Iowa newspaper reported some students in a small town in their state identified as cats. Roberts said that in her research career, shes never heard of or seen an instance of a furry wanting a litter box. The district where Columbine High School is located has been stocking classrooms with small amounts of cat litter since 2017, but as part of go buckets that contain emergency supplies in case students are locked in a classroom during a shooting. A photograph from one of those presentations went viral on social media: While we're not sure exactly when or where this photograph was taken, we did find a video of Pesta using this same slide at a presentation in Hartland, Wisconsin on March 31, 2022, called "American Public Schools: From Failure to Fascism." These situations have been addressed consistently by administration and the dress code policy will continue to be implemented with fidelity. Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claimthat a Michigan school put litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify as cats. The rumour was also spread by popular US podcaster Joe Rogan. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The woman, who uses the handle @crazynamebridgetmichael, said she was taking attendance when a student responded to his name with feline vocalizations. At about the 33-minute mark in this YouTube video, local parent Lisa Hansen began discussing what in her opinion is a somewhat nefarious national agenda being pushed on students. oh, dont forget to stock up on cat food as human food isnt really good for them. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Perhaps even more surprising is what nearly a decade of research on the subject can tell us all about how we relate to animals, how we understand ourselves, and how we benefit from letting the inner child run wild every so often.. USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment. Kentucky school district: Students are dressing and acting like cats. The one thing thats certain, however, is that cats dont deserve to be in the middle of this mess. "They identify with animals. IE 11 is not supported. Isla Bryson: Why are trans criminals put in Scottish women's prisons? Cisgender refers to individuals who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. A teenage girl from Melbourne, Australia, identifies as a cat, according to multiple news stories. There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools.. morning journal obituaries past 3 days; when will allegiant release december 2022 flights And now schools are wanting to put litter boxes in the schools for these children to use. False rumors about. Michigan Republican Party, archived Jan. 24. A reaction from another user calling for schools to stop admitting furries to schools brought in over 1 million views. A school in Australia has allowed one of its students to be non-verbal in class and behave like a cat, as per her wishes. Thats the problem. 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. Im staying calm, but Im not happy about it, and its happened on your watch, and I dont understand it., Heres the video: (It should start at the relevant section, but if it doesnt, Hansen speaks at the 32:44 mark). Lets get that debate started! Sign up now to get the Washington Examiners breaking news and timely commentary delivered right to your inbox. Theres no such thing as a litter box at a furry convention.. Clearly, identifying as a cat is absurd and indicative of a serious personal problem. The post quickly went viral, racking up nearly 860,000 video views on Twitter. Any cats involved? 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. AM 1380 / 99.9 FM WNRI. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. How were you or your family members conceived?! 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. In April, three Republican lawmakers in Minnesota took turns during floor debate discussing rumors theyd heard about children identifying as cats at school, cutting holes in uniforms for tails and possibly using litter boxes. Video the teacher admitted she made up the story to create awareness of what are. Evidence for that, and this is true 's superintendent shut downthe rumor soon after shared! 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