this post was submitted on 14 Mar 2025
529 points (98.5% liked)

News

27294 readers
5454 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education, or FURRIES, Act, filed by Austin-area Republican State Rep. Stan Gerdes, would "prohibit any non-human behavior by a student, including presenting himself or herself, on days other than exempt days, as anything other than a human being."

The law would allow for exempt days, such as Halloween and other school dress-up days.

The law defines "non-human" behavior as "any type of behavior or accessory displayed by a student in a school district other than behaviors or accessories typically displayed by a member of the homo sapiens species," with provided examples being:

Using a litter box for the passing of stool, urine or other human byproducts

A personal or outward display, except during a school play or by a school mascot, through surgical or superficial means of features that are non-human such as using tails, leashes, collars or other accessories designed for pets

Using fur, other than naturally occurring human hair or a wig made to look like human hair

Artificial, animal-like ears

Other physiological features that have not historically been assigned to the human race through a means of natural biological development

Students who bark, meow, hiss or make other animal noises that are not human speech

Licking oneself or others for the purpose of grooming or maintenance.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ZILtoid1991@lemmy.world 12 points 8 hours ago

I always tell people, that they won't stop at LGBTQ+ people, and will eventually go into persecuting other subcultures.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 9 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (2 children)

What is it with them and this absolute conviction that kids are pretending to be cats, it's literally not happening and yet they're upset about it.

If they are going to make things up and then be upset about those made up things can they not come up with something less weird than kids being cats? Why not be upset about all the Dark Lords in schools, or the uptake in alien abductions?

[–] Dultas@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

Because their base thinks it's real so they can claim a win over a non existent issue and their base will eat it up.

It also distracts from real issues impacting people. So they can say yeah we haven't gotten to that yet but look at all this other stuff we "fixed".

[–] obvs@lemm.ee 8 points 8 hours ago

If you're complaining about gay people, you're not complaining about us denying you a living wage.

If you're complaining about transgender people, you're not complaining about us denying you medical care.

If you're complaining about furries, you're not complaining about us denying you education.

I guess we really want you to complain about those things.

[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 8 points 11 hours ago

It would be so funny if schools start "dressup weeks/months" with rotating theme in protest

[–] fibojoly@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 hours ago

Is the hacker known as 4Chan at it again?

[–] Red_October@lemmy.world 7 points 12 hours ago

Ironic really, given how right here the cuntservatives are just chasing their own tail.

[–] Saint_La_Croix_Crosse@midwest.social 18 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Fascists are so stupid, they start to believe their own propaganda. Can't even remember, or at least be bothered to remember, that they made this up to scare normies.

[–] Quill7513@slrpnk.net 4 points 10 hours ago

well also. once you drum up enough fear, you can act on that fear. when you act on that fear you can do something that masquerades as something else. they say this is about keeping furrie play out of school. but the powers they got themselves will go a long way to labeling any kind of "out of the ordinary" behavior autistic kids do as being furrie play. this is all going accrording to plan

[–] KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

i cannot begin to describe how utterly fucking stupid this is.

I genuinely thought i died and went to hell when i first read this, this bill doesn't even make any fucking sense. Child exhibiting "non human behaviors" could be considered "child abuse" according to this bill.

How the fuck do you even enforce this?

[–] RangerJosey@lemmy.ml 10 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

Overreaching Authoritarianism.

Standard Republican kit.

[–] luce@lemmy.blahaj.zone 16 points 18 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (3 children)

The law defines "non-human" behavior "any type of behavior... [not typically] displayed by a member of the homo sapiens species,"

NATHON!! STOP ACTING LIKE A HOMO ERECTUS YOU NEANDERTHAL!

also im pretty sure "human" means 'under the homo genus' not 'homo sapien' but its not like it matters to them

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

Surely any behavior performed by a human is behavior that is performed by humans and therefore anything is authorized under this act. Lots of humans do dress up in cat ears, so dressing up in cat ears is human behavior.

[–] luce@lemmy.blahaj.zone 0 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Wow there sure is a lot of behavior and accessories not "typcal to homo sapiens" makes me wonder what the hell they even mean here by "typical", it's like calling someone "objectively not normal" while ignoring that your entire view on normality is based on what you have been exposed to. I am not a furry or a therian or anything, but the flaws in this law absolutely allow it to be applied to just about any "behavior or accessory"

[–] argarath@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

There are enough furry conventions that you cannot say it's not typical. Also have you not interacted with children at all? Because they play as if they're cats or dogs or wolves and many other animals all the time, are you saying that typical child behavior is not typical human behavior?

[–] luce@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago)

I feel there has been a misunderstanding here.

Im not saying anything against furries, I am instead stating that our ideas of normality are entirely socially constructed, meaning this bill could be applied to basically any behavior depending on your interpretation of what is "typical to homo sapiens" I could, for example, state that it is normal for someone to be a furry, as humans have a long history of portraying themselves in similar ways. I could also say that a piercing is an "atypical" accessory not permitted by the rules. There is no such thing as normal. To call something weird is just to simply state that you haven't been exposed to it enough for it to qualify as weird for you.

[–] umbraroze@lemmy.world 4 points 11 hours ago

The law defines "non-human" behavior "any type of behavior... [not typically] displayed by a member of the homo sapiens species,"

"My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Florida forever."

[–] Sir_Kevin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 16 hours ago

These are the same people that defined us all as female afterall.

[–] whydudothatdrcrane@lemmy.ml 27 points 21 hours ago (5 children)

Why on earth are they pursuing this. We all know this is not a real problem.

If it was a scare crow to attack trans rights, they have achieved that. They have pulverized trans rights in many places, especially bathroom access.

Who stands to gain from this? It is not a real problem!

[–] JakenVeina@lemm.ee 15 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

The rage machine requires fuel.

[–] projectsquared@lemmy.world 3 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

This is at the very core of everything that is happening.

load more comments (1 replies)

the rage is the point. the feeling of a win is the point.

the cost to the tech industry is an acceptable cost; these people do not connect cause and effect.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] melpomenesclevage@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

'non-human'

this could go much darker than anti-furry biotry, which already isn't great, real fast. is your nose too big? in a non-human way? does a man have tits that are too large? in a non-human way?

[–] Glytch@lemmy.world 5 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

Is your skin too dark to be considered human? Are you acting in a manner that the white elite deem ~~thuggish~~ non-human?

Considering this is a Texas bill it's not hard to see how it will be abused.

does your hair curl in a way that's human? is your accent fully human? what about your genitals? is that a dick, or some non-human shit?

[–] Litebit@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago

So we can report anyone wearing leather now?

[–] astutemural@midwest.social 13 points 22 hours ago
[–] Fedizen@lemmy.world 6 points 19 hours ago

In these trying times republicans are banning ghosts and bigfoots, which are real and legitimate concerns and not fake anecdotes that have spiralled out of control in some kind right wing fetish news circles.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Surgical means‽

Also why are they legislating about this. Texas schools have real problems like gun violence and illiteracy. Furries and animal role play are just things some people have always done that don't really harm anyone and given how they persist across so many cultures and times could actually be considered a natural behavior of homo sapiens like parrots' mimicry

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 13 points 23 hours ago (1 children)
[–] interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.ml 7 points 21 hours ago

Oppress furries Get cyberhacked

[–] S_H_K@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Fuck how the heck they find double entendre.acronyms for any shit they pull. Coincidentally eat shit assholes what the fuck did those poor people do to you? I don't consider myself a furry but have friends that does.

[–] ouRKaoS@lemmy.today 8 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

"Backronym" is the term I've always heard- starting with the acronym then coming up with what it stands for

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 8 hours ago

I bet they were really proud of themselves when they worked it out as well.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] Earflap@reddthat.com 33 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Man they keep coming back to the litterbox thing, it really freaks them tf out. Even though its been debunked dozens of time, my conservative friends all swear they know a guy that knows a guy that swears he saw one for real!

[–] Vreyan31@reddthat.com 9 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

The litterbox thing is so outrageous that it gives their tyrannical proposals the vineer of addressing a real problem.

But the litterbox story was fabricated, and the only grain of truth of it is that some classrooms did keep kitty litter as a mitigation against being trapped by an active shooter - another conservative-created problem.

They will continue to glom onto outrageous stories, to justify their outrageously oppressive proposals.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 1 points 8 hours ago

I was always confused by this active shooter argument. Don't classrooms have fire doors to the outside isn't that a requirement that all rooms have at least two exits.

The school I was in had both fire doors to the outside and bathrooms between the classrooms right up until upper education. Even then they still had fire doors to the outside so everyone could just leave.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Vreyan31@reddthat.com 6 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Dude is going to flip if he ever watches Miracle on 34th Street.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] gandalf_der_12te@discuss.tchncs.de 17 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Other physiological features that have not historically been assigned to the human race through a means of natural biological development

Does that forbid earrings as well? They're non-biological extensions/modifications of the human body.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 12 points 1 day ago

Furries are the ultimate dorks. I know I am very furry affiliated and most of my friends are furries... but this makes being a furry badass nyao.

[–] halferect@lemmy.world 18 points 1 day ago (1 children)

What world do these people live in? I just can't imagine this is a issue and i imagine that passing a law like this will just lead to kids definitely shitting in litter boxes because breaking the law is fun, imagine the court case of a kid dressed like a cat and pissed in a box.. straight to jail

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 8 hours ago

What if they were dressed up in non-traditional furry attire? Like a sexy octopus, because I feel like the world needs more sexy octopus.

[–] SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 13 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So can’t dress as a Republican?

[–] Little8Lost@lemmy.world 1 points 11 hours ago

Only on exempt days like halloween or occations like a school play

load more comments
view more: next ›