Topline
Far-right candidates who promoted the thoroughly debunked theory that schools are providing litter boxes for students who identify as animals didn’t fare well Tuesday, with several key Trump-allied candidates losing their elections—although a few big names survived.
GOP candidates, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) have spread the debunked theory that ... [+]
Key Facts
Loser: New Hampshire Republican Senate candidate Don Bolduc falsely claimed students at a New Hampshire high school had identified as “furries and fuzzies” and used litter boxes provided by the school, although the school denied his claims—he lost to Sen. Maggie Hassan (53.6% to 44.4%).
Loser: Heidi Ganahl, a GOP candidate for Colorado governor who repeatedly claimed without evidence that public school students “all over Colorado” were dressing up as animals and communicating with barks and growls while schools are “tolerating it,” lost on Tuesday to Democrat Jared Polis 57% to 40.8%.
Loser: GOP House candidate Catalina Lauf, running for election in Illinois, tweeted at CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski last month, “this is not a hoax and is happening in schools in Illinois, too”—she lost this week to Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.).
Loser: Minnesota’s Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen, who asked on the campaign trail why elementary school students are able to “choose their gender” or why they are given “litter boxes” at school, also lost on Tuesday, falling to Democrat Tim Walz 52.3% to 44.6%.
Loser: Ed Thelander, a Republican House candidate in Maine, spread the myth last month before backtracking and admitting the theory had no basis, lost in a 62.8% to 37.1% landslide to Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-Maine).
Winner: In Ohio, Trump-backed Republican J.D. Vance, who promoted the debunked theory, saying in an interview on the right-wing Billy Cunningham Show last month it’s a “crazy point we’ve reached in this country where schools are doing this stuff”—he defeated Democratic challenger Tim Ryan in the key Senate race, taking in 53.3% of the vote.
Winner: Far-right Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R), who has supported multiple QAnon conspiracies, falsely claimed students were dressing up as cats and using litter boxes, telling reporters outside a campaign event in September, “that’s their prerogative”—she soundly defeated Democrat Marcus Flowers, receiving 65.9% of the vote.
Undecided: Far-right GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.), one of the loudest supporters of the theory, has called it an “identity crisis” that goes beyond “furries” to the question of gender identity, saying “when we have a large portion of the population who can’t tell us what a woman is, there’s a crisis”—she holds a narrow lead over her Democratic challenger Adam Frisch in a surprisingly close race that hasn’t yet been called.
Key Background
The theory came into the national spotlight in January when Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock posted on Facebook, “Kids who identify as ‘furries’ get a litter box in the school bathroom.” One day later, a far-right social media account called Libs of TikTok tweeted a video of a Michigan school board meeting where a woman claimed “kids who identify as a cat or a dog” use litter boxes in school bathrooms—while the school superintendent denied the claim. Libs of TikTok went on to post similar theories, in one instance calling a Kentucky sex education teacher a “predator,” a post that Fox News host Laura Ingraham picked up, calling out schools for being “essentially grooming centers for gender identity radicals.” Over the next several months, the theory caught on among far-right candidates and right-leaning media hosts, even though there was never any evidence of students identifying as animals. Earlier this year, several GOP state officials, including Colorado state Rep. Scott Bottoms, Texas state Rep. Michelle Evans and Nebraska state Rep. Bruce Bostelman, caught on to the “furries” theory, although Bostelman walked back on his claim that students are using litter boxes, admitting it had no basis. An NBC News report found at least 20 right-wing candidates and elected officials spread the debunked theory this year, and that every school district they referenced has denied the claims as untrue. School officials across the country have debunked the claims, with some writing to parents to assure them students are not using litter boxes.
Tangent
“Furries” is a subculture that’s existed for years among some adults who dress up as animal characters. Adults who dress up as “furries” also include a high percentage of queer members, although the community that participates in the subculture decries characterizations of the practice that focus on a perceived sexual element—a form of fear mongering that’s been called “fur-mongering.” The theory that children are identifying as cats and dogs, however, seems related to as right-wing policy makers introducing legislation that targets identity and transgender rights in schools, including Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law preventing elementary school teachers from instructing on gender identity, as well as numerous state bills targeting trans children in school sports—although several, including in Utah and West Virginia, have been blocked in courts.
Surprising Fact
Last month, popular podcaster Joe Rogan, who has a huge conservative following, said on his Joe Rogan Experience that a school “had to install a litter box in the girls room” for a student who “identifies as an animal,” backtracked on his claim two weeks later, admitting “it doesn’t seem like there was any proof that they actually put the litter box in there.”
Further Reading
Far-Right Boebert Pulls Ahead Of Long-Shot Opponent In Nail-Biter (Forbes)
