Republican bill would ban student furries from school
The bill, introduced by representative Justin Humphrey, cracks down on furries. (Getty)
A Republican lawmaker from Oklahoma has pre-filed a bill that would ban student furries from school grounds, even stating that students could be removed by animal control.
The bill, introduced by representative Justin Humphrey, cracks down on furries – those who dress as or identify with anthropomorphic animal characters or ‘fursonas’ – at school, mandating that they be removed from campus and school activities.
“Students who purport to be an imaginary animal or animal species, or who engage in anthropomorphic behavior commonly referred to as furries at school shall not be allowed to participate in school curriculum or activities,” House Bill 3084 reads.
“The parent or guardian of a student in violation of this section shall pick the student up from the school, or animal control services shall be contacted to remove the student.”
And while not all furries are LGBTQ+, cracking down on furries has often gone hand-in-hand with transphobia. This is because some anti-trans activists have repeatedly claimed that trans identities will lead to people identifying as animals or non-sentient objects.
In fact, many scaremongering stories about furries in recent years have been debunked as transphobic hoaxes.
Alongside the ‘furry bill’, representative Humphrey also pre-filed a bill that bans the use of public funds for education on “sexual choice, sexual orientation, drag queens, or similar topics in public educational institutions”.
This follows several similar bills across the US, including Florida’s reviled ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law, which restricts education on and discussion of LGBTQ+ identities at schools in the state.
Over the past few years, Oklahoma has introduced several anti-LGBTQ+ laws, including an attempt to ban gender-affirming surgery for all trans people under the age of 26.
The bill, which was introduced in January 2023 and has not since passed, was described as “dangerous” by opponents.
“It won’t stop until they ban transition entirely,” journalist and activist Alejandra Caraballo said. “They will just keep increasing the age.
“We have been warning everyone that the inevitable goal of the anti-trans movement was to ban all gender-affirming care and effectively criminalise trans people from existing.”
