Texas Is Planning To Pass a Furries Act? What!

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bulwark Takes – "Texas Is Planning To Pass a Furries Act? What!"

Release Date: March 20, 2025
Host: The Bulwark Team (Tim Miller, Will Sommer)
Episode Title: "Texas Is Planning To Pass a Furries Act? What!"

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Introduction

In this engaging episode of Bulwark Takes, Tim Miller and Will Sommer delve into the bizarre legislative proposal emerging from Texas—the so-called "Furries Act." This proposed bill aims to restrict certain non-human behaviors in public schools, sparking widespread debate and raising significant concerns about free speech and personal expression among students.

Main Topics Discussed

1. The Furries Act in Texas

Tim Miller introduces the central topic, highlighting the introduction of a bill by Texas State Representative Stan Gertie. The legislation seeks to ban behaviors commonly associated with the furry community—such as wearing animal ears, making animal noises, and using pet-like accessories—in public schools.

"[...] Stan Gertie's state rep in Texas and he's introduced a bill to ban non human behavior in public school such as barking, meowing and other animal like practices commonly used by furries."
– Tim Miller [00:44]

Miller references his article, "Furry, A Litter Box of Lies," where he explores the origins of this legislative push, debunking the myth that children are engaging in these behaviors as part of their identity.

"[...] There's no evidence of this anywhere. And yet there's now a proposed bill in Texas."
– Tim Miller [02:44]

2. Underlying Motivations and Comparisons

The hosts draw parallels between the Furries Act and previous controversial legislation, such as the "Don't Say Gay" bills. They argue that both laws stem from a lack of understanding and reflect a broader trend of overreach in regulating children's behavior and expression.

"This is in some ways, this is reminiscent of the big fight around the don't say gay bills."
– Tim Miller [03:22]

Will Sommer adds that the Furries Act seems to be a tool for political posturing, allowing legislators like Gertie to appeal to their conservative bases by targeting an exaggerated and unfounded issue.

3. Real-World Implications and Concerns

Miller emphasizes the absurdity and potential consequences of the Furries Act, citing an instance where a school installed a litter box—not because children identified as cats, but due to misguided security measures for potential lockdown situations.

"There was an instance of a school that had a litter box. [...] It's not because the kids were identifying as cats."
– Tim Miller [04:14]

The conversation underscores the unrealistic nature of enforcing such a bill, highlighting potential punishments that could severely impact children and educators alike.

"Students cannot wear tails, leashes, collars, non human accessories. [...] Educators who fail to enforce the law could face fines with penalties up to $10,000."
– Tim Miller [06:59]

4. The Spread of Misinformation and Urban Legends

The hosts discuss how urban legends and misinformation, often propagated through social media and influential personalities like Joe Rogan, contribute to the fear and urgency behind such legislative efforts.

"It's always somebody said, I heard that at some school. It's always somebody told me. It's never somebody being like, I have evidence."
– Tim Miller [04:28]

They caution listeners to approach such claims critically, emphasizing the importance of verifying information before accepting and acting upon it.

5. Potential Legal and Social Ramifications

Will Sommer highlights the broader societal impacts, including the rise of lawsuits as a political weapon. He notes that extreme measures like the Furries Act could lead to heightened tensions and legal battles between parents, schools, and legislators.

"It's very bizarre. [...] it's just very [...] the whole thing, I mean, down to the individual behaviors, was very bizarre."
– Will Sommer [08:15]

Notable Quotes

• "I have non political moms in my life. Bring this up to me. I was at a crawfish boil. And one of the moms, like, I'm a little worried about the kids in the cat ears pretending to be cats."
  – Tim Miller [02:44]

• "Kids can only dress up in celebration of human history. So if you want to talk about the great whale migration, the bear wars, whatever, none of that."
  – Will Sommer [09:14]

• "Stan Gertie's like, 7 year olds like to bark and pretend to be animals. That's what my kid comes over from school every day is like, can we pretend to be bears today."
  – Tim Miller [05:00]

Analysis and Insights

Tim Miller and Will Sommer critically analyze the Furries Act, arguing that it represents an overreach into children's natural behaviors and creative expression. They express concern over the lack of substantive evidence supporting the need for such legislation and highlight the potential for abuse and unintended consequences, both for students and educators.

The discussion also touches on the political motivations behind the bill, suggesting that it serves as a distraction from more pressing issues while allowing politicians to appear proactive to their base. The hosts advocate for a more measured and evidence-based approach to policy-making, especially when it concerns the education and well-being of children.

Conclusion

The episode concludes with a strong stance against the Furries Act, emphasizing that the bill is based on unfounded fears and serves more as a political statement than a necessary educational policy. The hosts call for listeners to remain vigilant against such legislative overreaches and to support policies that foster creativity and freedom of expression in schools.

"They don't think that they're a cat. They're not thinking. They're just being a child using their imagination."
– Tim Miller [08:35]

Final Thoughts

Will Sommer wraps up by reiterating the importance of scrutinizing such bills and understanding their broader implications. He encourages listeners to stay informed and engaged, promoting responsible governance that truly addresses the needs and realities of students.

"I'm the whole thing, I mean, down to the individual behaviors, was very bizarre."
– Will Sommer [08:15]

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Transcript

[Tim Miller]

Hey guys, it's Tim Miller from the Bulwark here with Will Sommer, our newest team member focusing on what's happening on the far right and crazy maga world and conspiracy land. And one of my favorite maga conspiracies, the idea that there's this rampant trend of kids pretending to be cats and pissing in litter boxes in schools all over the country. This has reared that's little cat ears one more time with a bill in Texas. And I want to tell you about the insanity going on in Texas. But first, Will, you got a new newsletter for us. We cover all this craziness called False Flag. People can get [e-mail]. it comes out on Thursday morning. So what do you got for us today? What do you got this week we.

[Will Sommer]

Have the mysterious shakeup at Ben Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire. His CEO, who is supposed to be this kind of titan of Conservative Media, $200 million company, suddenly steps down mysteriously. And there's a lot of speculation. I'm trying to figure it out. But in the meantime, you know, we have a lot of did they spend too much money on a kind of Game of Thrones knockoff? You know, there's all kinds of interesting things to look into.

[Tim Miller]

I noticed that some of the stars had created Brett Cooper, Candace Owens kind of dunking on him after the firing.

[Will Sommer]

Well, he's a guy who's made a lot of enemies, you know, which is the perfect guy to cover.

[Tim Miller]

All right, well, check out for more Will's False Flag. He also did his first newsletter a couple days ago, focused on Tim Pool, another MAGA podcaster, having a alleged encounter at a cracker barrel with antifa skaters. So anyway, you got to get the whole deal. Here's what's happening down in Texas. We've got this guy, Stan Gertie's state rep in Texas and he's introduced a bill to ban non human behavior in public school such as barking, meowing and other animal like practices commonly used by furries. It is called the Furries Act. This I've been, I've been tracking this for a long time. We'll put this up on the screen here. Here's October 22nd. I wrote this article for the Bulwark Furry, A litter box of Lies where I really tried to figure out like what was the genesis of this, like why, why does this happen? I had, I don't know about you, Will, but like I have non political moms in my life. Bring this up to me. I was at a crawfish boil. And one of the moms, like, I'm a little worried about the kids in the cat ears pretending to be cats. And I'm like, this is not a thing. Kids are not peeing in litter boxes in schools. There's no evidence of this anywhere. And yet there's now a proposed bill in Texas. What do you know about this? Have you been obsessed over this as much as me?

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, I've certainly tried to get to the bottom of, you know, with this unfolding national issue. You know, it's certainly evocative. Right. I mean, so, you know, as you've written for several years now, this has been a sort of an urban legend, I guess we could call it, that's become very political. And people will casually say, well, I heard that at sort of the neighboring school or the school two counties over, that there are all these, you know, self identified furries who believe that they're cats in, I think, the main instance, and they need a litter box. And so it's sort of like, I guess it's sort of an outgrowth of like the like trans bathroom issue, but sort of taken to even further extreme.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, the thing that got the closest, which is this is getting dark. So this is one of these stories that's like 80% funny, 10% dark, 10% a little scary on the free speech. So we'll get to all that. Here's the dark part. The thing I found was that there was an instance of a school that had a litter box. Seems like kind of a dumb idea that they did this, but it wasn't because the kids were identifying as cats. It was because they were worried if there was a lockdown that they would have like some, some fucking administrator got the idea that if there was like a shooter and there was a lockdown, they should have cat litter on campus. Really dumb in its own right. Also speaks to kind of the horrifying American reality. But. But yeah, no, no evidence of like a kid getting on all fours and peeing. You never found any of that at the Daily Beast.

[Will Sommer]

No, I mean, and I obviously you looked into this really extensively. I mean, there were all these examples of, of people saying, or it's like a specific school and they're like a rumor starts on Facebook that is happening at this school. And consistently every time the school says this is just totally made up.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, Joe Rogan did this. And it's all. And every situation is always the same. It's like, you know, know, oftentimes in the case of Rogan, it's like Somebody without a kid, it's like, oh, my friend, you know, said that their friend Sally told them that at their school. It's a problem. It's always like one of these games of telephone examples. And anytime you try to track it down, it's never somebody being like, I. It's me. Like, I have seen it, I have evidence. You know, it's always, somebody told me. Somebody told me, all right, I want to get into this bill because I actually think this is. To me, in some ways, this is reminiscent of the big fight around the don't say gay bills. Remember that? And one thing that frustrated me about the don't say gay bills is a lot of the legislation was harmful because it felt like it was not written by people who had any experience with seven year olds or who had forgotten what seven year olds are like. So I've got a seven year old, you know, she's got two dads. Like, we come into the school, like, seven year olds are curious. Like, the other kids on the playground are like, why does he have. Why does she have two dads? Like, why? Like, you know what I mean? Like, they ask the teachers questions. And so to create a bill that would ban the teachers from talking about that, like, doesn't, you know, in their minds, they made the bill as if it was like, oh, teachers shouldn't be teaching kids about, you know, gay sex clubs or whatever, like the history of homosexuality in kindergarten. It's like, yeah, but sure, but like, still, like, sometimes things come up in which they teach. So it's. This is kind of a similar case. There's a restriction on students here. Students cannot wear tails, leashes, collars, non human accessories. They cannot wear accessories designed for pets. No animal ears. They cannot make animal noises such as barking, meowing or hissing. They cannot lick oneself for grooming. The punishment or. This is real. Students who violate this could face placement in a juvenile justice education program. Educators who fail to enforce the law could face fines with penalties up to $10,000. A teacher could get fined for $10,000 if they don't stop the barking in class. Like, literally. Have you met a 7 year old? Stan Gertie's like, 7 year olds like to bark and pretend to be animals. Seven year olds love pretending to be animals. That's what my kid comes over from school every day is like, can we pretend to be bears today? They're not identifying as a fucking bear. They're just being a child using their imagination. You have children, Will, am I, am I, am I off the off base? Here.

[Will Sommer]

No, I mean, I totally agree. It's crazy. I mean, the part in the bill that specifically says, you know, kids cannot make, make, hissing or meow. I mean, that's. They're going to arrest, like, you know, half the seven year olds in Texas.

[Tim Miller]

I think I had Wes Moore on the pod today and he said he got arrested when he was 11 for, what do you call it? Tagging. And they said they handcuffed him when he was 11. This is great. This is great. We're gonna be handcuffing, you know, we're gonna be handcuffing 8 year olds because they want to pretend that they're. They're a character in Paw Patrol, like the whole thing.

[Will Sommer]

Oh, I hadn't even considered the Paw Patrol aspect of it. Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Miller]

And the Paw Patrol thing is huge.

[Will Sommer]

Yeah.

[Tim Miller]

And so, you know, this is also related to these other Republican bills you've been covering where, like, these guys, they're very fond of, like, suing now, too. Lawsuits are very much in vogue. Right. Where it's like, oh, yeah, if the school doesn't do this, like the craziest mother or father. Sorry to pick on the moms. The craziest parent could come to the school and sue them because, you know, they read the gay penguin book or because, you know, the kids are hissing and meowing. I mean, like, it leads to a very. Leads to a very bad potential place.

[Will Sommer]

Oh, yeah. I mean, it's the, you know, you think on one hand, well, you know, what teacher would really care if kids are barking? But then they include these just like brutal punishments in terms of the fines, you know, much less like the criminal aspect of it. And, you know, it's just very. The whole thing, I mean, down to the individual behaviors, was very bizarre.

[Tim Miller]

All right, so just to be clear, if you're watching, because I've even heard from some liberal parents about this, you know, sometimes these urban legends catch on. There's no evidence of this. Some kids do like to wear cat ears. That's kind of in trend. There is kind of a thing now with, you know, what's called anime. You know, people do, like, kids do like to dress up as characters, but it's not a trans thing. They don't think that they're a cat. They're not thinking. They're not growing up to be a cat. They don't want to pee in a litter box. It's just children being children. We should not sit on their imagination. Will, I'm going to ask you to kind of take us out because I also like to play imagination. But do you have any other final thoughts?

[Will Sommer]

Yeah, I just had a couple. Quickly. I mean, one thing about this bill is. It's one thing about the bill is that it says kids can only dress up in celebration of human history. So if you want to talk about the great whale migration, the bear wars, whatever, none of that. And then the other aspect is Stan Gertie's. I looked into him in particular. It seems like he's been getting a lot of heat from his, like, local Republican parties for not being hard right enough. And so I suspect maybe this is kind of like he's tossing some meat to the base. He's like, look, I banned. I banned the furries.

[Tim Miller]

Come for me. Stan Gertie's. I dare you. I dare you. Come for us. Send the cops. All right, thank you, everybody. Subscribe to the feed. Will you take us out? Because they might not be able to hear me.

[Will Sommer]

All right, yeah, thanks. Thanks for subscribing. Check out the bulwark.