Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) baffled onlookers on Wednesday with a speech on Capitol Hill in which he warned that the skies might be under threat — from furries.
"Many airline pilots, flight attendants, and air traffic controllers are part of the furry community," said Tuberville. "Lord help us. It's terrifying when you think about this. When you walk onto a commercial flight, it's possible that the pilot flying your plane could have a deranged fetish of dressing up like an animal. You can't make this up."
Tuberville made this remark as part of a larger speech attacking the transgender community — complete with a prop board stating "TRANSGENDERISM IS A MENTAL DISEASE" accompanied by an emoji of a pregnant man. The digression into furry pilots was an example of how gender identity is supposedly threatening the U.S., although Tuberville did not clarify what he thinks furries have to do with gender identity.
In recent years, Republicans have become fixated on furries, who by and large are just a fandom culture of role-players, but whom many in the GOP are convinced exists solely for the purpose of sexual deviancy.
Most infamously, many right-wing politicians have pushed various internet hoaxes that schools around the country are offering litter boxes to students who "identify" as other animals.
It is uncertain how this myth began. There is one documented case of a Colorado school district stocking cat litter in classrooms — not for any sort of deviant purpose, but as emergency relief supplies in case of prolonged lockdown from emergencies like mass shootings.