A Texas lawmaker is taking aim at “furries” in public schools with new legislation that would prohibit students from engaging in non-human behavior on campus.
House Bill 4814 by State Rep. Stan Gerdes (R–Smithville), also known as the Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education (F.U.R.R.I.E.S) Act, seeks to ban students from presenting themselves as anything other than a human being during school hours, except on designated dress-up days.
The bill explicitly prohibits behaviors associated with the so-called “furry” subculture, including wearing animal-like accessories such as tails, collars, or artificial ears, as well as engaging in actions like meowing, barking, or using a litter box. The legislation also amends the Family Code to define allowing children to believe such behaviors are socially acceptable as a form of “abuse.”
Gov. Greg Abbott highlighted the bill in a speech at the Texas Pastors Policy Conference in Austin on Thursday.
“In the state of Texas, in some small rural sections and school districts in the state of Texas, they have [in] schools, what are called furries. Y’all know what this is? Kids in two rural school district settings, kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes…this has become so prolific,” Abbott said. “Stan Gerdes is actually having to file a piece of legislation saying no furries in public schools in the state of Texas.”
The governor used the issue as an example of the need for school choice.
“If you have a child in a public school, you have one expectation: your child is going to be learning the fundamentals of education—reading, writing, math, and science. If they’re being distracted by furries, those parents have a right to move their child to a school of their choice,” Abbott added.
HB 4814, if passed, would require all public school districts to include prohibitions on “non-human behavior” in their student codes of conduct. Schools or employees found violating the law could face penalties, including fines issued by the Texas attorney general.
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