The Midland Public Schools Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow took to Facebook to deny the claims. PORTLAND, Maine Three Portland Public Schools staff members have resigned and two have been verbally warned as a result of an investigation into allegations of misconduct from students within the district. Republicans furious after Democrat questions 'God-given' rights at House hearing, 'Toxic sludge': Paul Ryan torches Tucker Carlson when questioned about Fox News' election coverage, 'Beyond parody': Critics torch Marjorie Taylor Greene for her latest appeal to Republicans, 'Liar, liar': Joe Biden amuses crowd with quip about Marjorie Taylor Greene, 'Really unacceptable': FBI shredded following new watchdog report, Watch: Anti-drag GOP governor bolts from reporters who unearthed photos of him in drag, This multi-millionaire with a cushy desk job wants you to work until youre 70. Kaardal also filed at least seven lawsuits against the agency, beginning just before the 2020 election. Kline was a client. But with a fixation on nonexistent litter boxes and lunch tables, the furry panic turns a thriving subculture into a cudgel against public schools and their students. Updated: Apr 27, 2022 / 02:11 PM CDT. With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the fight over abortion is increasingly playing out at the state level and local elections for legislators and judges have taken on added weight. In a Dec. 1, 2020, press conference, Kline talked about Amistads efforts to uncover fraud, saying it had attorneys in virtually every swing state that are working on our behalf.. Two are still pending and the others were denied, dismissed or withdrawn, according to the commission. Patterson is an Indiana State Teachers Association board member. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Send it to The Daily Beasthere. Supervisors still approved some decisions made by the recorder, and the elections director still did the duties that state law gives to the elections official, such as presenting final election results to the board for approval. Knox Zajac, an 11-year-old sixth grader from Maine, spoke out against "pornographic" content in his middle school and wants the administrators to be prosecuted. Its almost like (Attorney General Kris Mayes) didnt know what to tell us, she just wanted to tell us something to try to stop us.. Public schools in Maine and across the country have been plagued by false allegations that they have been forced to provide litter boxes for children who identify as animals, sometimes. Democrat Ann English said she felt the board was acting in an inappropriate and ill-advised manner, considering she doesnt believe there are problems with the countys elections or vote-counting machines. VAERS scientists look for unusual patterns. READ MORE: Sad: Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for attempting to get Adam Kinzinger booted from his committees, In York County, Pennsylvania, for example, Facebook rumors began swirling around among conservative locals warning that furries "could be in your childs classroom hissing at your child and licking themselves.". Some develop elaborate video-game personas. It is set to end on Dec. 31, 2024, just after the November 2024 presidential election. Patch OFurr, proprietor of the furry news site Dogpatch Press, tells The Daily Beast that many of the same people spreading bogus furry rumors are the same people agitating to ban books they don't like. I heard him say, Leave my kid out of this. Two administrators from the school broke up this interaction and shuffled the four aggressors out of the building, and then asked the father if he was alright. The blogs noted that schools had denied the allegations, but the authors went on to say theyd heard more rumors from locals and people at the Clay County GOP booth at the county fair., Such rumors, if true, threatened to weaken the U.S. military, an Iowa commentator wrote. 2022 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. ", In another email, Deputy Superintendent Kym LeBlanc-Esparza says, "We have all received the emails about the furries in schools..", And in yet another email, Tara Pena, chief of family school and community partnerships, wonders, "If it [would be] helpful to mention that calling into question students dressing or "identifying" as furries is part of a larger, national political platform to further marginalize our transgender and lgbtq+ students. We respectfully decline to comment any further on this issue.". In August, for instance, an anonymous grandparent told Kentuckys WLKY that her grandchildren were being bullied in class by students who made hissing noises. Plenty of names associated with Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 results are well known by now. This is a very stereotypical belief about the furry community, and it still baffles me to think that this is a widely . Meanwhile, parents continue to discover new issues that many districts are now facing. This means animals with human characteristics such as walking on two legs, having intelligence, and/or the ability to talk just to name a few. Hosted by Asawin Suebsaeng and Will Sommer. Ron DeSantis and Florida's Doctor Antivax, 'The maths are hard': Marjorie Taylor Greene mocked for not understanding what 'seized' means, Marjorie Taylor Greene garners few sympathizers after claiming she was 'attacked' in a restaurant, 'Thats weaponization': Dem smacks down Jim Jordan for ignoring Trump DOJ corruption, 'Im not gonna yield!' I realize we have been advised, we have this letter, oh my gosh, but it doesnt sound like it has enough character or meat, Judd said. The state Assembly speaker later shut down the inquiry and Gableman got a job with the Thomas More Society. Kline told ProPublica that the Amistad Project did not coordinate with Trumps group, and the Jan. 6 committee revealed no evidence to the contrary. I do not believe the committee reviewed these materials, as they declined to schedule an interview with me, where I was happy to discuss the materials, he said in an email. Nevertheless, the allegations soon spread to Texas, where a GOP candidate (and activist with the right-wing parents group Moms For Liberty) added her own baseless claims about special privileges for furry students. In recent months, it successfully lobbied Ohio lawmakers to enact a strict voter photo ID law. Weve known Phill Kline. By Reuters Fact Check. But it was in Michigans Midland school district, not Central York, that the claims finally caught fire. Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? Claims of litter boxes in school bathrooms have cropped up on social media both locally and around the country. The superintendent tells WLKY. But the rumor metastasized in other states, especially when picked up by conservative voices. Getty Images. Long before the Thomas More Society and Kline joined together on election law, they had a different kind of relationship. COVID vaccines came with much stricter VAERS reporting requirements than other adult vaccines. They had previously joined an Amistad suit he handled. It seemed to me like it was a backlash against some of the progressive things that our schools are doing, director Norbert Carpenter told the CBC, and we would have many that would say this is rooted in hate and transphobia and homophobia and that message needs to be clear, its not acceptable.. Others, repeating the unfounded claim that the countys vote-counting machines are insecure, said Stevens would bring more trust to the system and it would save the county money by not immediately appointing a new elections director. Thats why its doubly important for pro-life advocates to ensure the integrity of state and local elections, one of the groups attorneys wrote in an op-ed last summer. The Ruling. Theyre allowed to wear leashes and collars and tails and they just bark but God forbid a kid wears a Trump hat to school; theyre told to take that off immediately. (Most schools dont allow hats.). VAERS provides zero evidence any of these people died because of the vaccine. Bannon applauded that action. One month after Jefferson County school administrators denied that kids were dressing up as so-called "furries" at school, CBS News Colorado has obtained emails showing the district was aware. Not content with panicking about the teaching of critical race theory, conservative parents throughout America have now been gripped with fear about their schools trying to accommodate students who dress up in animal costumes. Even before Marra left, the board had already proposed giving him more control over elections. DeSantis is trying to brand himself as the biggest antivax loon in the GOP presidential primary. They're furious. Social media users are sharing a video of a Midland Public Schools board of education meeting in Michigan where a community member claimed that litter boxes were . Another Wisconsin judge, in state court, rejected the Thomas More Societys lawyers characterization of the grants as election bribery, calling the assertion ridiculous., Likewise, a federal judge in Iowa ruled in a case brought by the Thomas More Society that the record contains no evidence supporting accusations that the grants pose an actual risk of shaping the outcome of any election or of favoring any particular party or candidate.. "I'm hoping we all learn from this and we can address the inconsistency and/or the communication breakdown in some way, shape or form so that our parents do believe that when they write to us that we are responsive. Google search results: No, Maine students aren't using litter boxes in school - WGME. As director of the election project for Thomas More, Kline couldnt argue the legal cases himself because of his ethical violations in Kansas, but he oversaw investigators and analysts, hired litigators and devised strategies. At the meeting, parent Lisa Hansen said she was "a lot of . ", School Board Member Susan Miller asked the same question: "We can see in the emails our parents raised issues with it and I don't think we should be saying our parents are lying.". VAERS data are correlational and unvetted. Darlene Edwards is among the parents who wrote in. But there is one major difference with the agreement, which Yuma County Recorder Richard Colwell provided to Votebeat on Tuesday. In short, it was a big scam.. Multiple litter box hoaxes make explicit reference to gender-neutral litter boxes (a parallel to battles over gender-affirming bathroom choices in schools) or claim that students identify as furries (a phrasing uncommon in furry media, but with parallels to how conservative media often describes transgender youth). The story was made up by the TikTok user, who later posted an update expressing . He said he believes its important to point out the historical perspective that numerous counties have made the decision to transfer duties to the recorder in the past. So, of course, furries should be allowed into school because there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. This is not the first time Ladapo has misused surveillance data to push governor Ron DeSantis's antivax agenda. Lisa Hansen asked other parents to join her to . Amongst other things, the professors faulted Ladapo for misuse of statistics and cherry-picking his data. Why are kids being allowed to dress up like animals in our schools? The grandmother said a petition to end the practice was created by students and has more than 1,000 signatures. Republican retracts false claim schools placing litter boxes for 'furry' students Nebraska's Bruce Bostelman apologises for repeating rumor that schools accommodating children who. Fargo School Board member Jennifer Benson told The Forum that a student informed her some schools have litter boxes in restrooms for students who identify as furries. CLAIM: The Waunakee Community School District in a suburb of Madison, Wisconsin, has a "furry protocol" that allows students who identify as "furries" to opt out of speaking in class . OwOMore Below!Support me on Patreon . Stevens helped propel the full hand count against the legal advisement. Kline had already been working on a project called The Amistad Journey in his anti-abortion efforts and later incorporated a for-profit company by that name in January 2020, listing his home as its principal office. ".It's something called furries. The Covid-19 pandemic continues to be catastrophic not only to our health - mental and physical - but also to the stability of millions of people. (The organization does not release the names of its donors.). Thats not to say furries arent in schools. Counter-protestors stand and hold signs at the intersection of 10th Street and . Thats when a local news story about a Pittsburgh furry convention led to unfounded speculation that hotel staff would have to clean up convention-goers poop. Ive been very online for more than half my life, and Ive witnessed every possible expression of furrydom that one can imagine: the costumes, the fanart, the porn, the meetups, etc. We are nonpartisan, were bipartisan, but we want the laws to be enforced so that the democratic process is not distorted and destroyed, he said. Healthcare providers are required to report some adverse events, but compliance has historically been spotty. The society declined repeated requests from ProPublica for an interview or to answer specific questions. Furries are fans of animals that have human characteristics, such as talking or walking on their hind legs. A furry might draw himself as a cartoon tiger, or dress up as a dragon at a convention for fellow. Furries are people who belong to a group of people who are interested in anthropomorphic animal characters with humanistic personalities and characteristics. The Board of Supervisors for the southern Arizona county voted 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon to transfer the boards election oversight to Stevens, giving up their statutorily-prescribed control over the appointment of the countys elections director, Election Day procedures, ballot counting and presentation of election results. Members of the furry fandom write . But it lumped Kline in the same bucket as Giuliani, Powell, Eastman and Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell saying that in response to Congressional subpoenas, none offered any proof of widespread fraud. On Jan. 2, 2021, Kline hosted a conference call with 300 state legislators in an attempt to disseminate purported evidence of election fraud, according to a subpoena issued to him by the Jan. 6 committee. He did not respond to requests for comment. The committee, which had a Democratic majority, was disbanded this year as Republicans reclaimed control of the House. The website is a online portal for scheduling meet ups and sharing information. The judge, however, was not as pleased. Its not accusatory enough. Luke Macfarlane's Hallmark Channel Past Prepared Him for Gay Rom-Com 'Bros'. The claim is a local school district is putting litter boxes in bathrooms for students who identify. This is a "hot" topic with 19,500 searches/month. According to the Cumberland Valley parent, their child came home from school and said, "Dad, the furries see me in the hallway and call me a dumb straight white boy," but he can't make sense of it because the furries are also white kids. Let's hocdauthau.com learn more about Litter boxes in schools for furries in maine in this article. The character you choose is known as your. We filed several preelection lawsuits on election integrity., But Kline and Northon told ProPublica that Northon was not, in fact, working for Amistad at that moment. So its not me singlehandedly making these decisions, Colwell said. It provided a three-page memo, however, highlighting some of its strategic initiatives and stating: The core traditional values that the Thomas More Society fights to protect the right to life, family values, and religious liberty can be preserved only if elections are fair and secure.. The turmoil led to the recent resignation of the countys well-respected elections director, Lisa Marra, who said she was disparaged and harassed as she refused to comply with the efforts. These "furries," as we're told they are called, are also allowed to hiss and meow at other students. Its because they have a strong bond and connection thats rooted in creativity.. School litter box fever will not die in Iowa. He said for months schools and the PSB have received phone calls and emails about the issue. In 2021 and 2022, various American conservative and far-right politicians and media personalities promoted the hoax in response to . In January 2022, for example, unfounded rumors were circulated on social media . The issue was first brought to light at a Dec. 20 school board meeting for Midland Public Schools, around 100 miles northwest of Detroit. A Nebraska state senator, Bruce Bostelman, last month warned of an alarming new variety of deviance making its way into the state's schools. He brought it to us. (WFRV) - A viral video of a UW-Oshkosh professor and a Wisconsin talk show host is causing some school districts in Wisconsin to respond to alleged 'Furry . How my high school AND college found out I was a furry! The Daily Beast reports that in "Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan, and Iowa in recent months, school board meetings have been disrupted by allegations that educators are giving special treatment to furry students.". An online search turned up no verified reports of furries in schools here, nor did requests sent to several districts. The Maine Community Foundation commended its Makerspace Initiative, which encourages students to design and engineer with 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines and robotics. Furry is shorthand, used to describe fans of anthropomorphic animals. The furry fandom is NOT all about sex. READ MORE: The inherent racism of anti-vaxx movements. Fargo, Moorhead and West . For the sake of American democracy and to strengthen our fraying social fabric, it is preferable to address the fraud issues before determining who is the next President. In January of last year, Brejcha wrote that his group will continue to work with and support Amistad but touted decisive new initiatives., Rest assured, he added, we mean to press this cause of election integrity to the hilt, as is our trademark.. At the time, the integrity of voter rolls was very much in the news. A furry might draw himself as a cartoon tiger, or dress up as a dragon at a convention for fellow. They targeted cities, counties, county commissioners, mayors, governors and election officials for legal action, focusing on key states Trump lost in 2020 Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Minnesota. Cafeteria tables are being lowered in certain @RoundRockISD middle and high schools to allow furries to more easily eat without utensils or their hands (ie, like a dog eats from a bowl), she tweeted. More recently, the Chicago-based organization has embraced a far different but equally divisive undertaking relentlessly questioning the integrity of elections. Shaun Boyd is the Political Specialist at CBS News Colorado. 3 Min Read. Together, the society and Amistad moved aggressively. Taking the interim job as elections director is the best way to solve the problem, he said. Admittedly, Im a little weirded out by it, not unlike that grandma from Kentucky. Instead, a furry might play-act the role of a cartoon animal, but when nature calls, shell step out of character and remove her costume to use a normal toilet. 'Stranger Things' Gave Us a D! Ironically, OFurr said, its the rightnot furrieswho wont stop talking about cat shit. One of the Amistad Projects chief arguments in 2020 was that election officials in swing states adopted pandemic-related measures such as the use of drop boxes for absentee ballots that disproportionately aided turnout in Democratic strongholds. I'm a real-life furry and my lifestyle is no dirty 'cat litter box' joke. But records and interviews show he played a prominent role, working largely behind the scenes, in attempting to stall the certification of Bidens victory. In the same way that cosplayers typically don't believe they are actually Spiderman, furries don't think they are their fursonas . The antivax site OpenVAERS now gets more traffic than the real VAERS website. Early in 2018, Trump had disbanded a controversial White House commission hed set up to investigate voter fraud after numerous state election agencies refused to supply requested voter information. People who are furries are not like, I am my anthropomorphized character. Thats not what happens., Furries do not literally believe they are non-human animals, Roberts said. Jan. 6 committee records show Kline asked those willing to sign the letter to reply to a woman who worked for a communications firm founded by Mark Serrano, a paid consultant to Trumps 2020 campaign. Their big lie and conspiracy theorist followers must be very proud of them, whereas the rest of America looks down on us as being a bunch of whacko hicks, Anderson said. Most of them refer to the kids as "furries.". Kim Patterson, a middle school teacher in rural Howard County, said there are no furries in schools there, either. - "Poynter" fonts provided by fontsempire.com. The agreement Cochise County approved Tuesday is not that specific and it gives Stevens some of the elections directors duties, such as presenting final election results to the board for approval. Carpenter said children in schools express themselves in many ways, but the rumours of students . A furry might draw himself as a cartoon tiger, or dress up as a dragon at a convention for fellow enthusiasts. She's even more frustrated that school administrators got caught up in the politics. May. Weve covered everything thrown at us this past year and will continue to do so with your support. In the weeks leading up to the Capitol insurrection, Kline led a group of investigators and litigators working out of a northern Virginia hotel, trying to prove that unlawful activity had influenced the election. When a community member made a claim about litter boxes being in Brainerd at a March . Districts are now facing not the first time Ladapo has misused surveillance data to push governor Ron desantis antivax... Counter-Protestors stand and hold signs at the meeting, parent Lisa Hansen said she &. Came with much stricter furries in schools in maine reporting requirements than other adult vaccines, it successfully lobbied Ohio to... Furry might draw himself as a cartoon tiger, or dress up like animals in our schools earn a from... Also filed at least seven lawsuits against the agency, beginning just before the 2020 election the hand! Wont stop talking about cat shit several districts any further on this issue. `` dress up like animals our. 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