Litter Boxes In Schools- An Idea Whose Time Has Come, Part Four
America's hottest, dumbest urban legend: It's more sinister than you think
I’ve written three other pieces about this story, but as I learn more about it, I become angrier and more disillusioned. This isn’t a case of the childhood “Telephone” game gone wrong; it’s a clear case of propaganda, misinformation, and willful bastardization of the truth. It’s an attempt to take one tiny grain of truth and turn it into a conspiracy theory used to smear the LQBTQ community, transgender kids, and anyone else the storyteller does not like.
It’s about never letting the truth stand in the way of a perfectly good opportunity to s**t on a class of people you despise.
At a lunch meeting for Republican women in Mesa County, CO, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) warned ominously that school officials “are putting litter boxes in schools for people who identify as cats.”
They’re not, of course, but Rep. Boebert, like much of the GOP these days, has never been one to allow the truth to get in the way of a perfectly good conspiracy theory. The truth is whatever they want it to be.
Of course, the fear of litter boxes in schools is one part of the battle over gender identity in some of America’s public schools. It sounds bizarre and confusing to most rational Americans. However, when spoken with gravitas and authority from senior GOP officials, it can sound like a dire threat to the more gullible and malleable, even if it is total and utter bulls**t.
How bad (and silly) have things become? Well, get a load of this:
[O]n Sept. 29, Minnesota GOP gubernatorial nominee Scott Jensen asked during a campaign stop, “Why do we have litter boxes in some of the school districts so kids can pee in them, because they identify as a furry?”
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 it’s happening across the state.
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.
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. There is no evidence that any school has deployed litter boxes for students to use because they identify as cats.
Of course, being a rational, intelligent human being, my gentle reader might look at the above and immediately think, “Wait; what sort of ridiculous BS is this? How could any reasonable person believe that there are students identifying as cats and schools accommodating that by providing litter boxes for them?”
If you think it’s utter bulls**t, you’d be correct- because it is. But, like any “good” conspiracy theory, it began with a kernel of truth- Jefferson County, CO, schools setting out cat litter in case of a mass shooting. If kids can’t relieve themselves when they’re hunkering down, they have to be able to do something, and the cat litter was the best idea anyone could come up with.
Guess what, though? It had NOTHING to do with students identifying as cats.
But the claim has taken on a life of its own among a growing number of Republicans, conservative influencers and political commentators. In an episode of Spotify’s “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 friend’s wife worked at for a girl who “identifies as an animal.” A clip of the discussion quickly began to circulate on social media. Rogan did not name the school, and his publicist did not respond to a request for comment.
There is a real subculture of people known as furries, a community of children and adults who roleplay as anthropomorphized animal characters. But the vast majority of them still identify as humans, while sometimes adopting an animal-like persona and engaging in short-term roleplay, according to furries and experts, one of whom noted that there are no litter boxes at furry conventions. Three school-age furries told NBC News they have at times dressed up at school, typically wearing just part of their full costume such as a mask or gloves that look like paws, but they’d never heard of any furry ever asking for a litter box.
Come on, man. If you’re getting definitive information on anything from Joe Rogan, you have issues I can’t begin to address here. Your problems have metastasized to the point where I’d suggest you seek professional help- yesterday.
Rogan makes millions for saying whatever pops into his pointy li’l head. He has no burden of proof and no requirement to present evidence of any sort. He’s an authority on nothing, yet people take his words seriously as if he has the sage wisdom of the elders to impress upon those who’ve climbed the mountain to hear him.
It’s bulls**t. Pure, unadulterated, 100%, top-shelf, Grade A, first-class, USDA Prime bulls**t.
The rise of the litter box rumor shows the power of false claims that start on social media to shape political discourse. 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.
“It’s only used to kind of sensationalize untruth, and to harm our community, in particular our transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive youth,” said Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ rights organization, when asked about the litter box rumors. “Why would you attack our most vulnerable to get your point across, especially since the point is baseless?”….
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. The spread of rumors about litter boxes has grown alongside other extreme and baseless rhetoric accusing LGBTQ people and educators of “grooming” children through lessons and policies on gender and sexuality.
Some politicians issued warnings about children acting as cats during debates regarding school policies related to transgender and nonbinary youth.
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. He later told a local newspaper he didn’t verify the claim was true, and he did not respond to a request for comment from NBC News.
“[H]e didn’t verify the claim was true.” Of course, not. Why would he need to when a lie would support his agenda even better than the truth? Why would you seek the truth when you can throw lighter fluid onto the fire that fuels the fear of transgender people in particular and the LGBTQ community in general? When fear breaks in your favor and overwhelms rationality and empirical truth, why would you want to throw yourself in front of that locomotive?
So is it that we go from one county school district issuing cat litter to schools in case of a mass shooting to a full-fledged nationwide conspiracy theory. This conspiracy theory is based on fear, innuendo, and the desire to oppress transgender and LQBTQ students. Someone heard it from someone who didn’t verify that the claim was valid. Nonetheless, it’s so outlandish that it COULD be accurate, which is what matters…right??
Yes, this is “America’s hottest, dumbest urban legend.” But GOP candidates are running on it as if it’s Gospel. In some cases, it’s hard to know if they’re stupid enough to believe it or if they’re just along for the ride.
Then again, perhaps P.T. Barnum was right. Maybe there IS a sucker born every minute…and they vote Republican.
Wir sind SEHR gefickt.
