A local elected official in the United States was a laughingstock on social media earlier this week after spreading an unfounded rumor that some schools had installed litter boxes in their toilets for children who sympathized with cats.
Nebraska Republican Senator Bruce Postelman was speaking Monday during a debate on education issues, and the video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times.
He was referring to a rumor that has been denied many times about a diverse community of so-called “furry” people who share an fascination with animals, the fact of attributing particular traits to animals.
“It’s called furry. If you don’t know what fur is, that’s when students dress up as animals – cats or dogs – during the school day.”
“They tend and bark and interact in this way with their school and with their teachers. Now schools want to put litter boxes in schools for these students to use. How can it be healthy?” He is very indignant.
While some sometimes wear the so-called Furry Fandom, especially at gatherings, Bruce Bostelman’s comments sparked both eyebrows and anger among Furry and their loved ones.
“That’s not what furs do at all. And crap? Dude, they’re human and they know they’re human,” angered my Twitter surfers. “They use the toilet like other humans. You are ready to slander even the most innocent activity for no reason.”
These rumors, denied by school authorities in many US states, are one of the latest symbolic images of the debate in the United States over issues of gender identity.
Another Nebraska senator, Democrat Megan Hunt, wrote on Twitter when her fellow Republican told baseless rumors: “I thought I passed out.”
In a call with AFP, Bruce Postelman did not immediately respond.
But according to Megan Hunt, he spoke again after his lunch break on Monday to say he called the schools and realized his mistake.
And the Democratic senator quoted his “apology to the furs.”
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