Evangelical MAGA pastor Tony Suarez recently claimed that, in eastern Tennessee, there are “kitty litter boxes in the public schools for the girls that identify as furries.” It’s a regularly debunked right-wing lie that conservatives regularly resurrect to build public opposition against transgender students and “woke” school policies.

Suarez claimed to have knowledge of this from when one of his kids was in middle school. “This is in the Bible Belt,” he said while speaking on the FlashPoint broadcast. “We have to be watchmen on the wall and say, ‘No,’ … On our watch we’re not gonna allow this — whether it’s Islam, wokeism — it cannot infiltrate our schools. And it’s going to take moms and dads that are committed to being those watchmen on the wall for our children.”

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While the FlashPoint broadcast promises to deliver “a unique melting pot where we dive into pressing political issues of our time” with “expert analysis” and “topics that mainstream media is too afraid of,” what Suarez said was just a lie.

There have been zero documented cases of any American public school accommodating litter box usage by student “furries” (that is, students who dress up and behave like animals and house pets).

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Republicans and conservatives have long repeated the lie that student furries are using litterboxes and demanding to be recognized as animals in schools. The myth was often brought up during discussions of school accommodations for transgender students, intended as a rejoinder: if schools are allowing trans students to attend school as their authentic selves when it comes to gender, then what’s to stop furries from demanding to be treated like animals?

Often, people who make these claims never name a specific school where it occurred. They never provide any additional photographs or details explaining basic facts about the students and educational officials involved, the location of the alleged litter boxes, how long they remained in use, or any reactions from other students, teachers, or administrators.

These falsehoods are designed to provoke outrage from audiences who know very little about gender identity or furries (a niche kink). Because the claims are so outrageous, if there were any actual proof of it having happened, it would undoubtedly make national news and result in serious disciplinary actions against any students and educators involved — but no such news stories exist.

This lie is also designed to sow distrust against public schools.

Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico pointed out that Republicans and conservatives use “this litter box rumor to paint our schools in the worst possible light.”

“That’s because if you want to defund neighborhood schools across the state,” Talarico said. “[So] you have to get Texans to turn against their public schools. So you call librarians groomers, you accuse teachers of indoctrination, and now you say that schools are providing litter boxes to students. That’s how all of this is tied together.”

An incomplete history of right-wingers lying about litter boxes

The Roseburg Public School District in Oregon was also forced to send an email to parents in 2022 after one social media user claimed its schools were accommodating students who dress up, act like, and identify as animals. Some of the post’s commenters said they would go to district schools and hurt students.

The lie was also repeated by Nebraska Sen. Bruce Bostelman (R) that same year. During a televised debate, Bostelman claimed that student “furries” were allowed to interact with teachers by meowing and barking. He also said that one student who was denied a litter box later defecated on a classroom floor. Bostelman later admitted that the story wasn’t true.

The furry hoax has been spread online by anti-LGBTQ+ activists like Chaya Raichik of LibsofTikTok, when she pushed a lie that a second-grade Texas schoolteacher encouraged students to become furries. The Austin school district disavowed the claim as misinformation.

Similarly, Christian hate pastor Aaron Thompson and anti-LGBTQ+ televangelist Andrew Wommack both said that schools allow students to identify as animals and demand litter boxes in classrooms. Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock also repeated the lie, as did Heidi Ganahl, the Republican candidate for governor of Colorado. She claimed that student “furries” are identifying as cats in over 30 different schools in the state. Many of the schools released statements contradicting her claim. She ended up losing her race.

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has claimed that a father in Michigan told her that his son got into trouble when he stepped on the tail of a student who identified as a furry.

Reuters published a fact check in July 2022 that said there is “no evidence of them disrupting classrooms or schools developing a policy of including them as a formal identity.”

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