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In December 2021, Midland resident Lisa Kawiecki Hansen walked up to a podium at a Midland Public Schools board meeting and made an unbelievable claim.
Hansen said she heard one of the district’s middle schools was keeping a litter box in a restroom for students that are furries. She claimed these students that “identify as cats” and that this was part of an “agenda.”
In January 2022, a clip of Hansen’s false claim went viral - sending that story from Daily News all the way to the New York Times and the Daily Mail.
The clip, and Hansen's false claims, forced a response from Superintendent Michael Sharrow.
“There is no truth whatsoever to this false statement/accusation! There have never been litter boxes within MPS schools,” Sharrow said in a January statement to the community. “It is such a source of disappointment that I felt the necessity to communicate this message to you.”
However, this statement did not stop the false rumor not only persisting across the country to this day.
According to Merriam-Webster, a "furry" is a person who dresses up in a costume resembling anthropomorphic animals. Furries will design costumes of, make art of, and role-play as their characters, and do not identify as animals like Hansen claimed.
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