Texas lawmaker pushing furry ban in schools admits he has no real evidence it’s even a thing
A Texas lawmaker who introduced a bill aimed at banning “non-human” behavior in public schools struggled to provide any real-world examples when questioned in a legislative hearing this week.
Rep. Stan Gerdes (R-Smithville) introduced the Forbidden Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act on March 13, claiming in a press release that his proposal stemmed from a “furry-related incident” allegedly occurring within Smithville ISD.
But when it came time to defend the legislation during a committee hearing, Gerdes offered little in the way of concrete evidence. He said he had spoken to the district superintendent and found the conversation “extremely concerning.”
“I was informed that this is happening in districts across the state, and they do not have tools to prohibit these types of distractions,” Gerdes said.
However, that assertion was contradicted by the school district itself during a March 31 board meeting. The district released a statement explicitly rejecting the claims.
“At this time, the District has no concerns related to students behaving as anything but typical children,” the district said. “Rep. Gerdes contacted Superintendent Cheryl Burns to ask if there were any litter boxes for students on District campuses. Burns informed Rep. Gerdes that there were not, but as a courtesy to Rep. Gerdes, Mrs. Burns made the extra effort to walk the campus to confirm that there were no litter boxes.”
When directly asked if there were any confirmed cases of students using litter boxes in school, Gerdes was unable to cite even one.
Still, Gerdes maintains that his intention is to minimize disruptions and keep classrooms focused.
“We just want to help them have the tools to get some of the distractions out of the classroom so we can get back to teaching time and stop the distractions,” Gerdes said.
But critics argue the bill is rooted in misinformation. Rep. James Talarico (D-Austin) strongly pushed back, calling the proposal an example of political theater rooted in fabricated culture war narratives.
“Texas librarians are not grooming kids, Texas teachers are not indoctrinating kids and Texas schools are not providing litter boxes,” Talarico said. “I think the most disappointing part about all this is, I think you know that.”
Gerdes denied that his proposal was part of an effort to malign or financially starve public education.
Lawmakers have not yet voted on the measure, leaving it in limbo for now.
