Hobart councilor, and longtime women’s rights advocate, Louise Elliot has claimed that kitty litter trays are supplied to some Tasmanian schools.
The Hobart councilor made the claim in a social media post responding to local independent state MP Kristie Johnson who posted a picture of herself at a Pride parade in front of the community group Taz Furs.
“Tasmania – Where politicians promote furries, some of our schools have litter trays, and we have the lowest literacy and numeracy in Australia.” Councilor Elliot claimed.
Incidents of media personalities and politicians claiming they are young people identifying as cats and schools are making special provisions have occurred regularly around the globe over the last few years, but the urban myth has been traced back over many decades.
From Perth, Brisbane and Melbourne to Indiana, Ohio, Utah, Idaho, Michigan, Arkansas, Texas and Canada, there have been claims of students identify as cats, and time and time again it’s been thoroughly debunked as an urban myth.
The basic story is students are identifying as cats, and some part of the school world is being adjusted for their special needs. Often the claim is that kitty litter boxes are being put in bathrooms, or tables in the cafeteria are being lowered so students can eat like animals.
In Australia there’s also been unsubstantiated claims of students cutting holes in their uniforms to allow a space for their imaginary tales. Perth radio host Karl Langdon has claimed there are local schools with kitty litter trays and also believes there are police officers who think they are rabbits.
Last week in a opinion piece for the Perth based publication The Nightly writer Jenni O’Dowd, also claimed that students were identifying as cats as she rallied against “wokeness”, gender neutral bathrooms, the renaming of Father’s Day, while praising US President Donald Trump.
OUTinPerth reached out to Councilor Elliot and asked if she thought there was a chance she might just be repeating an anti-transgender urban myth, and we offered to approach her claim with an open mind and follow up any information she could give on where in Tasmania the kitty litter trays were being supplied.
“I’m not going to bother with a proper reply as, given your bias, even if you could verify it, you wouldn’t report it accurately, if at all.” Councilor Elliot said.
While the councilor declined to provide any additional information to back up her claims to this outlet, on social media however she did give more details saying she’d spoken to schoolteachers and parents who had told her that the litter trays were being supplied.
“Multiple reports from Claremont College over the past couple of years and another in Kingborough region.” Councilor Elliot added in her follow-up posts.
A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Department of Education, Children and Young People poured cold water on the claim.
“These claims are not true.” they said.
“There is no evidence to support the notion that any school has implemented such accommodations.”
Local MP Kristie Johnson said it was disappointing that Councilor Elliot had taken a moment of celebration for the local community and turned it into a negative comment.
“I am a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community and thoroughly enjoyed participating in the Pride March which celebrated equality, respect and diversity. It was fantastic to see so many Hobartians participate in support, whether that be by walking or cheering us all on.
“It is disappointing that Councillor Elliot has taken that celebration of respect, equality and diversity and turned it into an opportunity for some to engage in hate speech.
“The allegations she has made in her X post have been shown time and time again to be nothing more than urban myths. I am pleased that so many people have called her out. It is important that messages of respect and equality drown out those of hatred and division.” Johnson told OUTinPerth.
Equality Tasmania also condemned the comments from Councilor Elliot. Spokesperson Rodney Croome said claims like those made by Councilor Elliot were designed to demean young people who are transgender.
“Councilor Louise Elliot should be ashamed of perpetuating urban myths that are designed to demean trans and gender diverse young people.” a spokesperson said.
“The kitty litter claim has been made a number of times and debunked every time, both in Tasmania and elsewhere.”
“Despite almost every child and parent having a phone camera, not one single photo has emerged to verify Cr Elliot’s claims of litter boxes in Tasmanian schools.”
“A recent national analysis of data from national LGBTIQA+ surveys found that young LGBTIQA+ Tasmanians have the worst mental health outcomes of all LGBTIQA+ Australians.”
“This terrible statistic brings shame and ignominy on people like Louise Elliot because their denigration of young trans people contributes to it.” Croome said.
Why can none of these people find a firsthand account?
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