INDIANAPOLIS — In response to a tweet Wednesday morning about a proposed Minnesota state bill that would require menstrual products in boys’ school bathrooms, Tony Dungy scoffed via Twitter.
‘That’s nothing,’ the former Indianapolis Colts coach tweeted at 9:38 a.m. Wednesday. ‘Some school districts are putting litter boxes in the school bathrooms for students who identify as cats. Very important to address every student’s needs.’
By 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dungy had deleted his cat litter tweet, which was in response to a Daily Wire video showing Minnesota State Rep. Sandra Feist advocating for menstrual items in boys’ school bathrooms.
‘We ensure that students have toilet paper, paper towels, soap and Band-Aids, and we should ensure that students have period products as well,” Feist told the House Education Policy Committee last week in the video. ‘Not all students who menstruate are female.’
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Dungy’s response created some outrage as the cat litter ‘myth’ was debunked months ago after being spread by politically conservative types who oppose LGBTQ+ rights and gender nonconformity.
IndyStar reached out to Dungy, but did not immediately receive a response.
Dungy, a Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl champion who now is a television analyst, is known for his Christian faith and often conservative views, especially on social values. His latest tweet received nearly 140,000 views and a lot of backlash.
‘Tony Dungy is out here spreading unhinged conspiracy theories,’ was the headline to the Deadspin article on Dungy’s tweet.
‘Dungy has also been getting roasted, and rightly so, by Cyd Zeigler over at OutSports for his ongoing opposition to same-sex marriage,’ Deadspin wrote after Wednesday’s tweet was deleted. ‘In the past, Dungy once called openly gay SEC defensive player of the year Michael Sam ‘a distraction,’ (then tried to walk it back) and has publicly aligned himself with anti-gay individuals and organizations.’
Dungy, an advocate for adoption and foster care and national spokesman for All Pro Dad, a fatherhood program helping men lead their families, told IndyStar in 2018 that ‘having both a mother and father in the picture is the best way for children to be raised.
‘That’s the way God set up the plan for families,’ Dungy said.
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.