Senator Ralph Babet slams Year 8 student who reportedly identifies as a cat

A United Australia Party senator launched a seething spray after reports a school supported a student’s decision to identify as a cat.

A United Australia Party senator has slammed reports of a Year 8 Melbourne girl who identifies as a cat, saying it was a symptom of the “unchecked” woke radical left.

Victorian senator Ralph Babet took aim after the Herald Sun reported that a Melbourne private school was supporting a “phenomenally bright” non-verbal student in identifying as a cat.

“No one seems to have a protocol for students identifying as animals, but the approach has been that if it doesn’t disrupt the school, everyone is being supportive,” a source close the family is quoted as telling the paper.

The student’s school was reportedly in support of her feline identity. Picture: iStock

“The behaviour is being normalised. Now more and more people are identifying as whatever they want to identify with, including ‘furries’.”

Mr Babet appeared to disagree. Sharing a screenshot of the original article, the controversial senator lashed the behaviour on his Facebook page.

“This is a symptom of allowing the woke radical left in society to run rampant, unchecked,” he wrote.

“Can we just put a stop to this garbage right now.

“You goto (sic) school to learn reading, writing and arithmetic.

“You are not a cat. You are a little girl. The end.”

A former real estate agent – who came to politics after the 2022 federal election – Mr Babet frequently bolsters conservative values. He’s also been outspoken over anti-government, anti-wokeness and anti-vaccine mandate views.

Senator Ralph Babet is a former real estate agent, turned senator. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Gary Ramage

In a statement to the Herald Sun, the school didn’t confirm the girl’s attendance, however they said their approach to mental health “is always unique to the student and will take into account professional advice and the wellbeing of the student”. The school also said they had students who presented with a range of “mental health, anxiety or identity issues”.

Senator Ralph Babet’s Facebook post. Picture: Facebook.

Although the Year 8 girl’s behaviour has been likened to the furry subculture, a community in which people explore anthropomorphising animals and give them human characteristics, her behaviour may be more likened to the therian subculture.

While less common, therians may identify spiritually as animals rather than a human. It’s also linked to the otherkin subculture, in which people may identify as being not entirely human. This can also encompass other mythical creatures like fairies, elves, aliens and angels. In January 2022, The Sun profiled a 27-year-old woman, Naia Ōkami, who identifies as a British Columbian wolf.

Living in Seattle, Washington, she said that she began to identify as a wolf from the age of 10 or 11, when she would occasionally bark or howl at her classmates.

Naia Ōkami spiritually identifies as a British Columbian wolf. Picture: Instagram

The 27-year-old says she’s identified as a wolf since she was 10 or 11. Picture: Instagram

Ms Ōkami said she still will occasionally exhibit wolf-life behaviours by running in the woods and “wolfing out” with a pair of wolf ears and a tail.

“Being otherkin means I identify with an animal on a spiritual or psychological sort of basis,” she told The Sun.

“We know we aren’t animals. We don’t think we’re going to turn into a wolf or anything crazy – it’s just sort of a spiritual belief.

“I see myself as a wolf, and I learned what I looked like though dream shifting. I’ve had dreams where I’m in the form I should be as a wolf, and I’ve had other dreams where I was sort of looking down at myself as a wolf, so I got a full visual of myself.”

Originally published as Senator Ralph Babet slams Year 8 student who reportedly identifies as a cat