A Republican running for governor in Colorado became the latest candidate to campaign on a thoroughly discredited claim that a growing number of students are dressing up as "furries" and self-identifying as animals in public schools.
Students are self-identifying as cats and dogs.
There are many, many examples of children in public schools dressing up as animals, when asked for evidence by KDVR.
A picture of a person dressed in an animal costume was posted on the internet by an unidentified source.
On Monday, Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen asked in a poorly attended speech why elementary school students get to choose their gender or why they are given litter boxes.
Similar claims have been made by candidates in Nebraska, Texas, and other Colorado races.
School officials around the country, including in Iowa, Tennessee, Missouri, Michigan, North Dakota and Nebraska, have all denied the claims.
The hoax spread due to something. In January, a video was posted from a Michigan school board meeting where a woman claimed that kids who identify as a cat or dog can pee in litter boxes in school. Laura Ingraham picked up a post on the account that referred to a Kentucky sex education teacher as a predator. In a televised debate in March, Nebraska state Sen. Bruce Bostelman said kids "meow" and "bark" and asked how having litter boxes in classrooms could be sanitary. He admitted it had no basis. A school district in a suburb outside of Madison, Wisconsin, issued a statement debunking a claim that it has a " furry protocol" for students who choose to opt out of speaking or participating in gym activities.
Right-wing lawmakers introduce and pass legislation that is criticized as anti-LGBT, including Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" law prohibiting elementary school teachers from instructing students on gender identity. It fits into a larger conservative push. Critical race theory, a term that has come into the national spotlight after being slammed by conservative media for being a way to whitewash history, has been criticized by analysts on the left as a way to whitewash history.
Are we doing anything? On the radio, he asked. It's time for schools to knock it off. Take your foot off the ground. Stop it. We need to get back to basics and not allow ideology to get in our schools.
Furries have existed for years among adults who are interested in animal characters. The community, which includes a high percentage of queer members, considers depictions of sexuality as inaccurate and unfair. Rumors of furries in schools have been condemned as an example of anti-queer sentiment.
The school district disagrees with the Colorado GOP governor candidate's claims.
There are false claims that kids are being labeled as cats.
It is an internet hoax that kids are using litter boxes in school.
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