Texas GOP wants to ban kids from playing dress-up: Yes, really

[marmar]

Texas GOP wants to ban kids from playing dress-up: Yes, really
Lone Star Republicans propose ban on "non-human behavior" in school — it's another stealth attack on LGBTQ rights

By Amanda Marcotte
Senior Writer
Published May 12, 2025 6:00AM (EDT)


(Salon) "This whole thing is just weird and, honestly, a little creepy." That comes from a debate in the Texas state legislature that was supposedly about "furries," a subculture of people who dress up as anthropomorphic animal characters. But it wasn't the furries that state Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat, was calling creepy.

That would be Republican state Rep. Stan Gerdes, author of the FURRIES Act, an embarrassing acronym that unpacks into the "Forbidding Unlawful Representation of Roleplaying in Education Act." Gerdes claims to believe that children in elementary schools are "identifying" as animals, and that the schools are indulging this supposedly dangerous delusion by letting kids eat out of dog bowls or use litter boxes instead of regular bathrooms. Absolutely no part of that true, and it is indeed "a little creepy" for Republicans to obsess over an entirely imaginary problem.

....(snip)....

Careful readers may already notice that wearing costumes, which is what Gerdes is trying to describe with this overwrought pseudo-legal language, is not "non-human behavior." Indeed, it is exclusively human behavior. Sure, some folks put little outfits on their pet cats and dogs, but that's not the animal's doing. At least on this planet, only members of homo sapiens are freaky enough to be entertained by a cat dressed as an avocado. I'll note that most cats look annoyed, rather than joyful, when forced to don human-made lewks.

Everything about this bill is based on false claims and absolute nonsense. Young children are not "identifying" as animals in school. The superintendent of the school that was accused of letting kids use litter boxes told the Houston Chronicle that no such thing was happening, and that she'd made an "extra effort" to investigate classrooms herself. "Furries" are real people, mind you, but they're adults — and they don't "identify" as animals, either. They are hobbyists who enjoy dressing up as cartoon characters and stuffed animals, create elaborate artworks involving anthropomorphic animals and sometimes attend conventions while wearing homemade animal costumes. .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/05/12/texas-wants-to-ban-kids-from-playing-dress-up-yes-really/

[SWBTATTReg]

1. So, Halloween is illegal now in Texas (or soon will be)? Also, lots of kids play out their favorite characters too,

normal kid stuff.

I guess these deprived republicans suffered a lot during their non-existent childhoods...

[Wiz Imp]

18. I believe the bill has a built in exception for Halloween

That doesn't make it any less ridiculous of a bill though.

[Emile]

2. Republicans have a sick imagination.

[Attilatheblond]

3. GOP, especially in TX, wants to force the making of babies but they do things to make life bad for kids

So, they force women to reproduce so they have easy victims to pick on? Oh, my, how very manly of them. Fucking bullies.

[Biophilic]

4. When I think about these idiots I realize they scare me to death.

How can a sane person believe this shit? How can a sane person be so far removed from their own childhood? Make believe is a very important part of being a child. It teaches us so much.

[CurtEastPoint]

5. All you gotta do is look at this... thing.... and know he's unhinged.

[niyad]

12. I immediately thought of maybeline couchhumper. .even before I saw

the whole image.

[rubbersole]

17. He'll get picked up by an elementary school playground...

...in a windowless van with a box of kittens. And beat the rap.

[msongs]

6. majority of texans approve everything republicans do making it a shit hole for non repubs nt

[multigraincracker]

7. Illegal to wear Mickey Mouse ears?

[CANADIANBEAVER69]

8. They want a controlled population

No child may get out of line and become empathetic, curious, imaginative people.

[OAITW r.2.0]

9. Pathetically, sexually insecure people populate the GOP.

[Mountainguy]

10. I went on a trip to watch a baseball game once...

the hotel I was staying in was hosting a national furries convention that same weekend. I got my car from the valet while standing in line next to a tiger.

[Danmel]

14. This made me laugh out loud

[slightlv]

11. My first thought is that

these people are terrified of imagination and creativity - usually because it puts those with it above those without out it.

My second thought was - why deprive others from cos-playing? After all, these reps are cos-playing actual government employees every single day - with their black or blue suits and the only creative thing about it being whether to where a blue tie or a red tie each morning.

[Norrrm]

13. Dress-up Rudy with honey Donald.

Vance also has some drag dress-up history.

[appleannie1]

15. Yet they have no problem with a grown man that dresses up like a pope.

[Clouds Passing]

16. Seems the Rs have cosplayed frequently during child porn sessions.

[Wiz Imp]

19. It doesn't make it any less insane and creepy, but the bill does allow for exceptions...

https://www.fox4news.com/news/texas-furries-bill-litterbox

Exemptions
The bill allows certain exemptions, including:

-Halloween or school dress-up events related to human history (limited to five days per school year)
-Theater performances
-Dressing as a school mascot

Consequences of violating the law
Students who do not comply with the proposed law could face removal from class, suspension, or expulsion. The bill also allows for placement in a juvenile justice alternative education program.

Educators are required to report violations to the Texas attorney general. School districts that fail to enforce the law could face fines—starting at $10,000 for the first offense and increasing to $25,000 for further violations.

[xuplate]

20. Get a grip

[LudwigPastorius]

21. Gregg Abbott needs to go to the source and bust some heads.

...those perverts at Walmart that sell this stuff to kids.

[Warpy]

22. Onward, soutpuss Christian killjoys!

The fundagelicals are making sure everybody else hates their guts, starting with their children.

[milestogo]

23. You want to see annoyed, try dressing up a large dog.

They seem to find it humiliating.

[JustAnotherGen]

24. What about Halloween? Eom

[onenote]

25. Halloween is expressly exempted

In fact, the bill is so riddled with exemptions as to make it even more irrational.

https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/89R/billtext/pdf/HB04814I.pdf

[Jack Valentino]

26. I want to ban Texas GQPs, and the rest of them, from TOUCHING our flag!

They should not be allowed to do so... for obvious reasons.

[artemisia1]

27. They won't be happy until they can commit atrocities such as this pool scene from "The Handmaid's Tale" Trigger

warning upsetting:

[Jedi Guy]

28. The author of the bill is confusing furries with otherkin.

The former dress up as anthropomorphic animals in "fursuits" (which, incidentally, frequently cost upwards of $50k), which may or may not involve sexual activity. I rather doubt any Texas schoolkids are showing up to school rocking a fursuit, though some are probably furries.

Otherkin, on the other hand, believe they are animal souls in human bodies, sometimes nonexistent or mythical creatures such as dragons. They self-identify as the animal in question. They frequently believe they were an animal in a previous life and were reincarnated in human form. While I don't doubt that a handful of children engage in this behavior, mostly teenagers, it's primarily an adult thing.

As we all know, children will often pretend to be an animal as part of the rich fantasy life that characterizes childhood, "pretend" being the key word there. It's just how kids are and how some of them play, just as some pretend they're Spider-man or their favorite hero.

The "litter boxes in classrooms" meme swept across the right-leaning social media sphere as a absurdist mockery of the trans community, as in "haw haw, those weird leftie kids are identifying as animals now and schools are catering to their delusions".

This dumbass in Texas is uninformed on multiple levels, clearly has no clue what the hell he's talking about when presenting this "legislation", and should be roundly mocked and derided by all and sundry. This is an extreme case of legislating from ignorance.