severe restrictions on abortion in the U.S. one of the groups attorneys wrote in an op-ed, nonprofit backed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Federal Election Commission reviewed the grants last year, Gableman got a job with the Thomas More Society, debunked by postal inspectors working with the FBI, subpoena issued to him by the Jan. 6 committee, postpone the counting of the electoral vote, continue to work with and support Amistad, aligned with the American Voters Alliance. Kline, who now teaches law at the evangelical Liberty University, told ProPublica he approached the society in 2018 about working together to publicize alleged election vulnerabilities. Researchers found they reported "significantly more bullying than the average person." According to furscience.com, 61.7% of furries. According to Kentucky NBC affiliate WLWT, parents and students alike are concerned about a group of high school students in the Meade County School district attending school acting like and dressing as cats. One woman who spoke to the outlet, the grandmother of two children who attend the high school, said the trend began last year, but seemed to become more popular when students returned to classes in August. Last week, a Tennessee school board banned the Holocaust graphic novel Maus, ostensibly on the grounds that its illustrations of unclothed mice were inappropriate. Dress codes are mostly nonsensical anyway. Target announced it was making all its bathrooms gender neutral. So, of course, furries should be allowed into school because there is nothing necessarily wrong with it. 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. The memo stated that all other deadlines including the Jan. 6 date for certifying election results were established long ago in federal law for ease of travel and are largely not relevant to a time when electors do not have to ride horses to Washington, D.C. to vote.. 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. 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. Throughout the struggle, he had a key ally from Chicago: attorney Tom Brejcha, president of the Thomas More Society. The media firestorm over Andrew Wakefield's fraudulent paper linking vaccines and autism boosted VAERS reporting rates for the MMR vaccine. The issue was first brought to light at a Dec. 20 school board meeting for Midland Public Schools, around 100 miles northwest of Detroit. Two are still pending and the others were denied, dismissed or withdrawn, according to the commission. Kline, meanwhile, is aligned with the American Voters Alliance, a nonprofit led by his daughter, Jacqueline Timmer. These people will hiss at you or scratch at you if they dont like something youre doing.. Yuma County in 2019 shifted most election authorities under the recorder. 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. Lawyers for the society, in recent years, also have brought legal action opposing vaccine mandates, gay marriage and transgender rights. READ MORE: The inherent racism of anti-vaxx movements. 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. If clothing is disruptive, district policy gives principals the power to place restrictions on it, this would include students dressing in costume. He did not respond to requests for comment. Should Trump be allowed to hold office again? 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. The briefing included Giuliani; John Eastman, the attorney behind the theory that Vice President Mike Pence could reject the Electoral College results; White House trade adviser Peter Navarro; economist John Lott; and Trump, who reportedly told the lawmakers they were more important than the courts and had the power to change the results. How could we possibly win a war with an army filled with dogs and cats?. Stevens helped propel the full hand count against the legal advisement. "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. School litter box fever will not die in Iowa. The superintendent tells WLKY the situation is being addressed, but according to a concerned grandparent, it's an ongoing problem that has many students on edge . an A! Its about control.. The committee is meant to be bipartisan and to provide expertise and transparency to the process, Colwell said. Contact Jen at jfifield@votebeat.org. But the county more specifically noted that the supervisors technically retained their responsibilities for elections under state law, even if the recorder was running them. And I am really disturbed by that., Michigan GOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock soon amplified the cat scat claims. To make matters worse, some major antivax groups and personal injury attorneys coach their followers to make VAERS reports about third parties. Its culture war, its control, and its not about protecting kids, OFurr explains. She says when her 14-year-old son came home from school and said classmates were dressing up in animal costumes, she initially urged him to just ignore them. The initiative, established in early 2021, targeted federal voter rights legislation for defeat. Meanwhile, conservative commentators accused the left of attempting to destroy the fabrics of our democracy for drawing Minnie Mouse in a pantsuit instead of her usual short dress. Let's hocdauthau.com learn more about Litter boxes in schools for furries in maine in this article. Todd Dorman. The committee, which had a Democratic majority, was disbanded this year as Republicans reclaimed control of the House. Right-wing parents are attacking school boards over furries in the classrooma proxy for the larger culture wars over race and gender. While the districts superintendent assured WLWT that this furry gear is, in fact, a dress code violation, that hasnt seemed to ease the worries of the anonymous student who started the petition. Fear of 'furries' in school grips conservative parents fooled by absurd Facebook rumors, schools in Michigan placing litter boxes in bathrooms, State senator mocked over claim students now identifying as 'furries' and demanding litter boxes - Alternet.org , GOP lawmakers are spreading false ridiculous 'furries' claim - Alternet.org , Furry Panic Is the Latest Dumb GOP Attack on Public Schools , Making a Safe Place for Students Who Identify as Furries, Therians , Let's Talk About Furries - Safer Schools , Teen Furries Reportedly Taking Over Kentucky High School . After receiving complaints unconnected to the Amistad Project, the Federal Election Commission reviewed the grants last year and determined that Zuckerberg did not violate campaign finance laws, concluding that the grants were awarded to many jurisdictions and did not suggest any partisan motive. 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 districts superintendent debunked the rumor in a scathing email. I went to r/furry to ask for advice and their opinion on how to handle this situation but got permanently banned, wrote the Redditor, who is in school to become a teacher. This is a very stereotypical belief about the furry community, and it still baffles me to think that this is a widely . Cheerleader. Between December 2020, when the COVID vaccines first rolled out to mid-August of 2021, right-wing media like Fox and Breitbart mentioned VAERS seven times more often than mainstream outlets. Copyright 2023 Raw Story Media, Inc. PO Box 21050, Washington, D.C. 20009 | After a closed session to discuss the letter, Judd said she didnt see a problem going ahead. Furries are people who belong to a group of people who are interested in anthropomorphic animal characters with humanistic personalities and characteristics. Maine Furs is a group of furs living in the state of Maine, U.S.A., who operate a website for all furries living in or around Maine.. the impossibility of using a toilet in a fursuit, has traced the origins of the litter box urban legend, I sexually identify as an attack helicopter. The "furry protocol" rumor is the newest wrinkle in a series of false claims concerning absurd behavior in schools. And maybe let the kids wear hats in class too. Last week, someone identifying themselves only as an MCHS student started Change.org petition that has so far garnered almost 1,000 signatures, calling out Meade County School District for hypocrisy: Theyre demanding that the district nix their dress code policy against wearing hats if students are allowed to wear animal ears, tails, and leashes. Americans have been left raging after an 11-year-old boy found a sexually explicit book in his middle school library. They identify with animals. Superintendent Michael E. Sharrow outright dismissed the rumors. Kids who identify as furries get a litter box in the school bathroom, Maddock wrote on Facebook. School children dress up as animals cats or dogs during the school day; they meow, and they bark," Republican state Sen. Bruce Bostelman said during the. 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. It happened every time a school board member spoke up about changes to the Central York School Districts COVID-19 plan. Im of the mind, if it aint bad, dont fix it, he said. Antivax propaganda drives VAERS reports and antivaxers point to increased VAERS reports as proof that the vaccines are dangerous. But the narrative that schools would indulge students in this fashion has a much darker underbelly. Republican retracts false claim schools placing litter boxes for 'furry' students Nebraska's Bruce Bostelman apologises for repeating rumor that schools accommodating children who. Leaping into the 2020 Stop the Steal frenzy, which was consistently discredited, the Thomas More Society aggressively pursued scores of lawsuits and complaints across the country. 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. The Amistad Project produced an eight-page report titled Set in Stone? in which it argued that the only Electoral College deadline specifically required by the Constitution is noon on January 20, which is Inauguration Day. Furries are fans of animals that have human characteristics, such as talking or walking on their hind legs. In January 2022, for example, unfounded rumors were circulated on social media . We were told there are students allowed to wear cat ears and tails while other students cannot even wear a hat. Hosted by Asawin Suebsaeng and Will Sommer. 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. We have a corporate oligarchy thats trying to control this election process, Kline alleged on former Trump strategist Steve Bannons War Room podcast on Dec. 14, 2020. This is a "hot" topic with 19,500 searches/month. An IRS form shows the Thomas More Society paid Klines firm more than $1.4 million in consulting fees in 2020. 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. They're also allowed to bark. In early November, an aspiring educator took to Reddits r/teachers board to relay rumors about students in her hometown demanding litter boxes in school. The organization also considers its efforts to ban ballot drop boxes in Wisconsin a success. False. May. Don Bolduc, Republican candidate for New Hampshire senator, is one of the latest conservative politicians to repeat the hearsay that schools are providing litter boxes for . It was chosen in 2019 as the School of the Year by the Maine Environmental Education Association for its well-regarded learning opportunities for students. How my high school AND college found out I was a furry! But there is one major difference with the agreement, which Yuma County Recorder Richard Colwell provided to Votebeat on Tuesday. Got a tip? 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.. In tossing one of the Amistad Projects suits in Wisconsin, U.S. District Judge William C. Griesbach wrote that they offered only a political argument and their brief is bereft of any legal argument that would support their claim. Since taking office in July, he said, the committee has advised him on the appointment of an interim elections director and helped him make decisions about the location of drop boxes. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Please, let these weirdos do their thing. The investigation was closed after the tipster clammed up. In case after case over the Zuckerberg grants, judges found no merit in the arguments presented by lawyers associated with Kline and Thomas More. According to Kentucky NBC affiliate WLWT, parents and students alike are concerned about a group of high school students in the Meade County School district "attending school. According to a 2014 press release, the Thomas More Society underwrote Klines appeal of his suspension. EDIT: We are now being told the litter box was allegedly brought in as a form of harassment against the "Otherkin." A Michigan school district has debunked a wild claim that a school provided litter boxes for students who identified as "furries" people who dress up as anthropomorphic animals. Bendor appeared concerned about Cochise Countys proposal, though, because of the lack of clarity around just how much authority supervisors were giving Stevens perhaps including establishing voting locations, appointing workers, approving ballot contests, and finalizing results. It's malpractice for a government agency to issue health directives based on VAERS data. Jen Fifield is a reporter for Votebeat based in Arizona. But it wasn't until Republican gubernatorial candidate Heidi Ganahl raised the issue in a radio interview - saying "kids are identifying as cats" - that it erupted in controversy. Another Cochise resident, Bob McCormick, said that Stevens is qualified for the job and combining the departments will be cost effective. Furries are a subculture of people who craft alter-egos as anthropomorphized animals. Northon said that he was called to the state Capitol by several lawmakers who were clients and were locked out of the building. In August, for instance, an anonymous grandparent told Kentuckys WLKY that her grandchildren were being bullied in class by students who made hissing noises. 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. 13, 2022 7:00 am, Updated: May. Fontes said he has received numerous messages of concern and complaint from Cochise County residents worried about the recent challenges to the countys election system. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WHEC) A rumor going around on social media has been raising some eyebrows. Invest with us. Think Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse, they walk on two legs, have hands to manipulate items, and talk. By October, furry fears were making their way into school board meetings. It also lists a few duties that Stevens will have, such as managing special taxing districts, but then says generally the Recorder shall be responsible for all other election functions.. 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. Make a one-time contribution to Alternet All Access, . At the time, the integrity of voter rolls was very much in the news. Some argued that giving Stevens more control over elections threatened to derail the integrity of the countys system. Fargo, Moorhead and West . If you are aware of legal authority for the draft Agreement, please promptly provide it to us, Solicitor General Joshua Bendor wrote. ".It's something called furries. (Furscience set the bathroom record straight in 2016, when they made a tongue-in-cheek video about the impossibility of using a toilet in a fursuit.). The society declined repeated requests from ProPublica for an interview or to answer specific questions. Based in Arizona requests from ProPublica for an interview or to answer specific.... Contribution to Alternet all Access, furries are a subculture of people belong. A sexually explicit book in his middle school library N.Y. ( WHEC ) rumor... 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