While promoting his school voucher bill (which has since passed), Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott reiterated a debunked claim about students at public schools in “rural Texas” dressing and acting like cats (“meowing”) and that schools are providing litter boxes in classrooms for those students.
Note: The governor’s office was not able to provide a list of schools nor evidence to prove his claim.
When Texas Rep. Stan Gerdes (R) promoted his related bill on X — the “Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education” Act, a.k.a. FURRIES Act — which would ban students from “non-human behavior” including using litter boxes, Community Notes debunked the myth as a hoax and said there was no evidence of such behavior.
Greg Abbott is pushing the “FURRIES Act” claiming schools are giving litter boxes to students who act like cats.
But when I asked the bill author, he couldn’t name one school providing litter boxes to kids.
This is all part of Abbott’s smear campaign against our public schools. pic.twitter.com/wFvzlIQPTi
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) May 1, 2025
This week at the Texas House of Representatives, Gerdes proposed the bill before the Committee on Public Education and was asked by Democratic Rep. James Talarico to name a school that has confirmed that students are using litter boxes, Gerdes said, “No I cannot.”
When Talarico asked Gerdes: “Do you think it’s a good use of our time to write laws on debunked Internet conspiracy theories?” Gerdes replied, “This piece of legislation before us covers that among other things that are true.”
Talarico addressed Gerdes and said: “This whole thing is just weird and honestly, a little creepy, and I think that’s the point because this is all, in my opinion, a manufactured, debunked smear campaign against our Texas public schools.”
“Texas librarians are not grooming kids.
Texas teachers are not indoctrinating kids.
Texas schools are not providing litter boxes to kids.
These culture war attacks are nothing more than an effort to discredit our schools.” pic.twitter.com/N28iEPnevu
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) May 1, 2025
Talarico added: “Governor Abbott has used this litter box rumor to paint our schools in the worst possible light. He even used the litter box conspiracy theory to push his private school voucher bill.”
He told Gerdes: “Texas schools are not providing litter boxes and I think the most disappointing part about all of this is that I think you know that.”
Abbott will sign his $1 billion private school voucher program into law on Saturday inside the Governor’s mansion.