Rumor targeting students identifying as cats prompts response from another Canadian school

A “sandbox” hoax has prompted a Quebec school board to issue a statement and warning that spreading false information could lead to legal action.

The Lac-Abitibi school board, located in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, clarified in a statement last week that there are no sandboxes on school property, students are not on leashes, and students only wear costumes. to go to school during specific activities.

The statement was issued in response to rumors circulating in the region about the use of sandboxes at Polyno High School in La Sarre, Que. to accommodate students identifying as cats, a hoax that is becoming increasingly popular.

Isabelle Godbout, who runs the Lac-Abitibi school service center, called the situation “absurd” in an interview with Radio-Canada.

The rumor allegedly began circulating after it was brought up during a game of true or false on a local radio station. Another private radio station in Gatineau also started a similar rumor about a regional high school in April, the CBC reports.

In an interview with Radio-Canada, Mona Greenbaum, executive director of the LGBT+ Family Coalition, said she believes adults start rumors as a way to “disparage trans youth and make the whole thing seem like an absolutely crazy idea. ”

“It is very similar to what we saw when we were fighting for marriage. So people were saying, ‘Well, if we allow two men of the same gender or two women to marry, what’s next? Are we going to start marrying our horse, our dog and our cat?’” Greenbaum added.

The rumor appears to have first surfaced in Canada in October 2021, when Norbert Carpenter, director of the PEI public school branch, issued a statement noting that sandboxes were not being placed in PEI schools to students who identify as cats.

Carpenter said he made the statement after months of emails and phone calls on the subject.

“I thought it was a backlash against some of the progressive things our schools are doing, and many would say this is rooted in hate, transphobia and homophobia and that message needs to be clear, it’s not acceptable. .”

In December 2021, a sandbox rumor began to circulate in Michigan after a mother told a school board meeting that she was surprised to hear that schools had sandboxes in unisex bathrooms for students who identified. like cats, according to a New York Times report.

The unsubstantiated rumor was later seized upon by politicians and commentators, further spreading the hoax.

An NBC report from October last year found that at least 20 conservative candidates and elected officials had claimed that schools were placing sandboxes on campus to accommodate students.

That same month, two school boards in Renfrew County, Ontario also issued statements clarifying that no sandboxes had been placed in schools.

The letter, issued by the Renfrew County District School Board and the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, noted that the boards do not collect animal identity information from children or acknowledge animal identities.

Earlier in the month, the Durham District School Board also moved to dispel rumors of litter boxes in school bathrooms and outdoor potty breaks.

Wildly popular podcaster Joe Rogan also fueled the rumors in October 2021. While interviewing Tulsi Gabbard, the former United States Representative, Rogan opened up about a story about a litter box being placed in the girls’ bathroom at a school. unidentified to accommodate a student who identifies as a “fur.”

Gabbard did not question the authenticity of Rogan’s story, instead saying it was “absolutely insane”.

Rogan said he heard the story from a friend whose wife works at the unidentified school. Rogan later said that he tried to verify the story but that the woman no longer worked for the school.