The FURRIES Act (full name: Forbidding Unlawful Representation of

Roleplaying Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...

in Education Act) is a proposed bill in

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

that seeks to ban animal-like behavior, costumes and roleplaying in schools. The name "FURRIES" is a

backronym A backronym is an acronym formed from an already existing word by expanding its letters into the words of a phrase. Backronyms may be invented with either serious or humorous intent, or they may be a type of false etymology or folk etymology. The ...

referencing members of the

furry fandom The furry fandom is a subculture interested in Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic animal characters. Some examples of anthropomorphic attributes include exhibiting human intelligence and facial expressions, speaking, walking on two legs, and weari ...

, although the bill would also affect the unrelated

otherkin Otherkin is a subculture of people who identify as partially or entirely nonhuman. Some otherkin believe their identity derives from non-physical spiritual phenomena, such as having a nonhuman soul or reincarnation. Some otherkin give non-spi ...

subculture. As of March 27, the bill reached the halfway point with 68 days remaining to pass the legislation.

Bill

The bill aims to stop all acts of animal behavior in

public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

. Prohibited actions would include, barking, hissing, meowing, licking oneself for grooming, and using

litter box A litter box, also known as a sandbox, cat box, litter tray, cat pan, potty, pot, or litter pan, is an indoor feces and urine collection box for cats, as well as Domestic rabbit, rabbits, ferrets, miniature pigs, small dogs, and other pets that ...

es to relieve oneself. Any accessory that is animal-like is included in the bill. Prohibited accessories would include,

fursuits Fursuits are custom-made anthropomorphic animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in 19 ...

, collars, tails, leashes, accessories designed for pets, and items historically not designed for humans. The bill attempts to make allowing or encouraging a child to believe that non-human behaviors are socially acceptable in an educational setting to be considered

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical abuse, physical, child sexual abuse, sexual, emotional and/or psychological abuse, psychological maltreatment or Child neglect, neglect of a child, especially by a p ...

. School districts who fail to enforce the law could face fines, with penalties starting at $10,000. The bill seeks to extend parental rights in schools, allowing parents to file complaints against schools or educators who fail to comply, potentially leading to legal action from the Texas Attorney General’s Office. The bill excludes school

sports mascots Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

, characters in plays, and designated dress up days including

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

Texas Governor The governor of Texas is the head of state of the U.S. state of Texas. The governor is the head of the executive branch of the government of Texas and is the commander-in-chief of the Texas Military Forces. Established in the Constitut ...

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott ( ; born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and jurist who has served since 2015 as the 48th governor of Texas. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served from 2002 to ...

stated in a news interview, "Kids go to school dressed up as cats with litter boxes in their classrooms" and shared a conspiracy theory that kids were getting surgery to have non-human features, though this was proven to be a myth. These conspiracies were supported by

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

ministers in

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

in order to gain support for the bill and to push for education savings accounts or

school voucher A school voucher, also called an education voucher in a voucher system, is a certificate of government funding for students at schools chosen by themselves or their parents. Funding is usually for a particular year, term, or semester. In some cou ...

s, which would give families taxpayer funds to go toward private-school

tuition Tuition may refer to: *Formal education, education within a structured institutional framework *Tutoring, private academic help *Tuition payments Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in Commonwealth ...

. The bill was sponsored by

State Representative A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United St ...

Stan Gerdes Stan Gerdes (born January 23, 1986) is an American politician. He serves as a Republican member for the 17th district of the Texas House of Representatives. Life and career Gerdes is a fifth-generation Texan who grew up in Waco, Texas, an ...

, who stated on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, "No distractions. No theatrics. Just education. While school mascots, theater performances, and dress-up days remain part of school spirit, this bill ensures that students and teachers can focus on academics – not on bizarre and unhealthy disruptions. Texas schools are for educating kids, not indulging in radical trends." Gerdes claims he wrote the bill in response to an incident at

Smithville Independent School District Smithville Independent School District is a public school district based in Smithville, Texas, Smithville, Texas (United States, USA). Located in Bastrop County, Texas, Bastrop County, in which it serves Smithville and Rosanky, Texas, Rosanky ...

, though there is no record of any incident and Gerdes did not provide further details. and has stated his dislike of the furry fandom, calling it "unhealthy roleplaying" and "radical."

Criticism

Educators in Texas have criticised the bill and its supporters, claiming that it is based on a right-wing hoax claiming students were using litter boxes to relieve themselves. Others have criticised the bill as being a proxy attack against members of the

LGBTQ community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ individuals united by a common culture and social movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individu ...

, particularly bathroom access for transgender people, as a significant portion of the furry community identify as LGBTQ. School clubs for table top and

live action role-playing A live action role-playing game (LARP) is a form of role-playing game where the participants physically portray their character (arts), characters.(Tychsen et al. 2006:255) "LARPs can be viewed as forming a distinct category of RPG because of ...

have raised concerns that the bill may force them to cease activities and effectively ban

Dungeons & Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) originally created and designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical ...

in Texas schools, potentially violating student

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

rights established by the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruling in '' Tinker v. Des Moines''.

References

{{Reflist 2025 in Texas Furry fandom Education law Child safety Greg Abbott Moral panic 2025 in LGBTQ history LGBTQ law in the United States 2025 in American law Persecution of LGBTQ people in the United States

Bill

Criticism

See also

References