Will Florida follow behind Texas with litter box legislation for public schools?
When looking to see what's on the horizon for bad governance in Florida, it's a good idea to look toward Texas.
Legislative actions enacted in the Lone Star State frequently serve as inspiration for Florida lawmakers.
It was Texas that passed the near-abortion-ban bill that Florida copied. It was Texas that gave Florida lawmakers the idea to make it illegal for local jurisdictions to mandate water breaks for outside workers during the summer months.
And it was Texas that gave Florida the idea to cast aside First Amendment concerns by allowing religious chaplains to serve as counselors in public schools.
It's a two-way street. Sometimes Texas lawmakers adopt our bad ideas, like the way Texas copied our laws against vaccine mandates.
And sometimes we work on bad ideas at the same time – like the 'chemtrails' legislation going on currently in both state legislatures.
The 'chemtrails' bills imagine that sinister government 'theys' are intentionally poisoning us from the skies, and controlling the paths of hurricanes for political reasons.
Laws based on unfounded conspiracy theories are a shared passion with Florida and Texas.
Texas shares Florida love of conspiracy based legislation with FURRIES Act
But I gotta say that Texas recently took a giant leap ahead of Florida. And it makes me concerned that this is what we'll be seeing soon in our state.
Opinion: Gov. DeSantis, Florida lawmakers help spread 'chemtrails' conspiracy theory
I'm talking about the FURRIES Act, a piece of legislation that's backed by Texas' governor and is moving through the state legislature.
FURRIES stands for "Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education". The legislation is based on the imaginary occurrences of public schools providing litter boxes for students who identify as cats.
The FURRIES Act in Texas would make it illegal for students 'using a litter box for the passing of stool, urine, or other human byproducts' in school. The bill also bans students from 'licking oneself or others for the purpose of grooming or maintenance.'
It's silent on coughing up hairballs.
The primary sponsor of the bill, Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes, can't name a single school in Texas, which is a really big state, where litter boxes were installed in student restrooms or classrooms. But that didn't stop him.
'I was informed that this is happening in districts across the state, and they do not have tools to prohibit these types of distractions," he said.
Furries attend Anthrocon 2023, one of the world's largest anthropomorphic conventions celebrating the furry subculture, in which people dress up or roleplay as animal characters, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 2023.
Public school aren't giving students kitty litter boxes. That doesn't matter to Texas nor Florida.
It doesn't have to be true to be useful for Gov. Greg Abbott as he goes around the state championing school choice over traditional public schools.
'In some small rural sections of school districts in the state of Texas, they have in their schools, what are called furries,' Abbott told an audience of Christian pastors after the bill was filed. 'Kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes in their classrooms.'
The misinformation campaign over litter boxes in public schools to accommodate students who identify as cats began four years ago in Canada and has been spreading in right-wing circles – including by Vice President JD Vance in his 2022 U.S. Senate campaign – despite being debunked over and over again.
Opinion Woke alert! Political indoctrination (right-wing) now on syllabus at New College
You'd think there'd be just one photo or one principal owning up to it if it were real.
The myth got a big boost by podcaster Joe Rogan, who told the millions in his audience that 'a friend's wife' told him all about the litter boxes in her school where she taught.
When Rogan was pressed for details, the story fell apart, and he admitted, 'I don't think they actually did it.'
A furry passes by some events near the windows during Phoenix Fan Fusion at the Convention Center downtown on May 24, 2024, in Phoenix.
The litter box story has already popped up in Florida politics. Last year, Erika Picard, a Pinellas County School Board candidate aligned with the Moms for Liberty, used it as an example of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) run amok in public schools.
'When you hear about kids identifying as whatever, and we're now accommodating them with a kitty litter box in the bathroom, that's a problem,' Picard said at a candidate forum.
'And I have actually talked to families that have had that happen in their kids' classroom. It's insanity. It's crazy, right?'
It's crazy, all right. And Texas is showing Florida the way. Once again.
Get ready. If I were a betting man, I'd say some statewide kitty litter legislation is in our future.
Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA Today Network-Florida. He can be reached via email at FCerabino@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Will Florida join Texas fight against 'FURRIES' in schools? | Opinion
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