'Creepy': GOP lawmaker reamed in hearing over obsession with students using litter boxes

A Texas Republican state lawmaker is trying to crack down on schools over a persistent internet hoax that children are supposedly being allowed to use litter boxes and identify as animals — but a Democratic colleague called him out in a recent session as wasting the whole legislature's time, the Huffington Post reported.

James Talarico confronted Stan Gerdes over his so-called Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying In Educational Spaces (FURRIES) Act during a session of the Committee on Public Education on Wednesday.

“I find it concerning that these types of debunked conspiracy theories are being used by politicians at the highest levels of our government, including in this legislature, who know that they’re incorrect,” said Talarico. “My concern is that instead of holding a hearing about student mental health, instead of holding a hearing about school closures across Texas, we are spending precious legislative time toward the end of this legislative session on a bill called the F.U.R.R.I.E.S. Act.”

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He went on to say that the bill was "weird" and "a little creepy."

Gerdes could not name an example of a school where kids were allowed, or even requested, to use litter boxes while cosplaying as animals, an assertion also promoted by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

The idea of this practice, based in part on an apparent misunderstanding of "furry culture" practiced by some consenting groups of adults, has gone viral in right-wing social media spaces, with parents outraged over the idea of litter boxes in schools even as they have no evidence of this happening.

The closest thing to this actually happening appears to be a 2018 report by the Denver Post that some schools in Jefferson County, Colorado, stashed cat litter for makeshift "go buckets" kids could use in the event of an extended lockdown due to a school shooting or some other type of emergency.