Michigan GOP co-Chair claims schools keep litter boxes for use by kids playing “furries”
In a nation where many believe the absurd conspiracy theories propagated by QAnon, nothing should come as a surprise anymore. But it does. Here’s a newsflash from Michigan this week.
A newspaper, The Morning Sun, reported a parent, Lisa Hansen, was irate that a local school provided litter boxes for the use of some of the kids. This concerned citizen was further worried that the problem was not limited to just one school. She believed it was part of a ‘nefarious’ national ‘agenda’. Her angst was such she raised the issue at a meeting of the Midland Public School District. She told the board she was still “trying to wrap her brain around this” — and that she was “a little bit upset”. In fact, she was “furious”.
In her words,
“So let’s talk about fury … furries. It was identified by a child a couple of months ago, that they are put in an environment where there are kids that identify as a ‘furry’, either a cat or a dog, whatever. So I heard yesterday, that in at least one of our schools, in our town, has a, in one of the unisex bathrooms, has a litter box for kids that identify as cats. And I am really disturbed by that.
Heck, I would be “really disturbed” if I had evidence that a school allowed children to go to the bathroom in litter boxes. But when I say “evidence”, I mean more than one story, told by one child, who probably has quite a vivid imagination. (If she even exists.)
Luckily, Lisa is on the case. She is going to dig into it. She adds,
“I will do more investigation on that. And I know that it is going on nationwide. I know it is. It is part of the agenda that is being pushed. But I don’t wanna understand it. I think people need to be aware of it. Because I am really upset as a parent that my child is put in an environment like that.
I can see a problem here. It is absurd to assume that the school has a policy based on one fanciful child’s account. And how you get from one school to a nationwide agenda based on that account baffles me. However, I am not familiar with the workings of the conspiracy-theorist mind.
Hansen then adopts a conciliatory tone and allows that children should be entitled to fantasize — but only within strict limits
“You know I’m all for creativity and imagination, but when someone is put in a fantasy world and expects other people to go along with it, I have a problem.”
It is safe to say that Lisa is blind to irony. You have to ask, who is living in a fantasy world? And who is expecting other people to go along with it? Perhaps a mirror would be helpful.
It turns out that one person did go along with it. Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock promoted the conspiracy theory on Thursday.
"Kids who identify as ‘furries’ get a litter box in the school bathroom," she wrote on her official Facebook page above a video from the school board meeting. "Parent heroes will TAKE BACK our schools.”
This piece of nonsense was so egregious that Midland Public Schools (MPS) Superintendent, Michael E. Sharrow, had to take to Facebook to rebut it. It is obvious from his language he couldn’t believe he had to do it.
“It is unconscionable that this afternoon I am sending this communication. However, our Midland PS stakeholders may be confused about a false message/accusation that has resurfaced this week and is gaining traction in the social media realm.”
He further wrote, “Let me be clear in this communication. There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools. It is a source of disappointment that I felt the necessity to communicate this message to you.”
I know that part of the Republican plot to dumb down America relies on installing paranoid dumbasses on school boards. And I hope, for America’s children’s sake, that people like Sharrow will keep resisting this lunacy.