CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An untrue rumor that litter boxes are being placed in schools for students who dress up in furry costumes and identify as cats has made its way to two North Carolina school districts — despite the claim being easily debunked.
After hearing chatter about litter boxes inside schools, an employee at North Lincoln High School in Lincolnton decided to put the rumor to rest.
“There is nobody identifying as a cat at North Lincoln High School and we have no litter boxes!!!” the employee posted in a local Facebook group last month. “Quit spreading this stupidity!”
A similar claim from parents that students dressed as cats were bringing litter boxes to Iredell-Statesville Schools led board members to propose a ban on all furry costumes, Queen City News reported last week.
“We’re trying to address it before it becomes a major problem,” District 1 Board Member Bryan Shoemaker told the Charlotte TV station.
A spokesperson for Lincoln County Schools told The Charlotte Observer in an email that litter boxes have never been placed inside any schools. The spokesperson did not indicate whether Lincoln County Schools board members would vote to ban furry costumes.
In Iredell-Statesville Schools, there was no evidence of litter boxes being used on campus, Superintendent Jeff James told a Charlotte TV station.
How the school litter box rumor originated
In October 2021, a Facebook post from the Public Schools Branch of Prince Edward Island in Canad addressed a rumor that the district was “in the process of having litter boxes placed in schools” for students who identify as cats, NBC News reported.
“This claim as well as many others are simply false and are causing unnecessary stress to students and staff,” the post said.
The claim took off among conservative groups and political commentators, too. In an episode of “The Joe Rogan Experience,” host Joe Rogan told former U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard that a litter box was installed in a school where his friend’s wife worked at for a girl who “identifies as an animal.” A clip of the discussion circulated on social media.
Since then, some Republican candidates and elected officials have reportedly repeated the claim, suggesting that protections for LGBTQ students will lead to litter boxes being placed inside schools, an NBC News review of public statements found.
The wave of misinformation reflects discontent among many conservatives around how the concepts and politics of gender identity are rapidly shifting.
“It’s only used to kind of sensationalize untruth, and to harm our community, in particular, our transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive youth,” Nadine Bridges, executive director of One Colorado, an LGBTQ rights organization, told NBC News. “Why would you attack our most vulnerable to get your point across, especially since the point is baseless?”
What does furry mean?
Many rumors have claimed that students who are dressing up as cats are part of the furry community.
Furries are a group of people, even youngsters, who “create for themselves an anthropomorphized animal character with whom they identify and can function as an avatar within the community,” according to FurScience, a furry research group.
Furries often wear full-sized animal costumes, or “paraphernalia such as animal ears or tails” to become their animal alter egos, according to FurScience.
Sharon Roberts, an associate professor at Renison University College and co-founder of FurScience, told NBC News that the majority of furries do not identify as animals.
More than 75% of furries are under the age of 25, according to FurScience.
Though furries are more likely to experience prejudice and bullying, research shows that interacting with similar people in a casual environment “that values tolerance, acceptance and open-mindedness” can improve their self-esteem and psychological well-being, according to FurScience.
Roberts said she studied several thousand furries from 70 different countries and concluded “there’s no such thing as a litter box at a furry convention.”
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