Rather than focusing on issues facing Maine, Bobby Charles spent part of his campaign mocking LGBTQ+ people. Charles compared transgender identity to children thinking they were "cats and dogs" and repeated the long-debunked litter box hoax. Experts have warned the litter box hoax has been used to ostracize LGBTQ+ students. Charles has also mocked LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations as a celebration of “alphabet soup” and complained there was no "heterosexual day parade.”
June 2026: Charles Repeated The Debunked Claim That Schools Were Providing Litter Boxes To Students Who Identified As Animals And Suggested Those Students Would Eventually Need To Learn They Were “Not A Cat.” According to the Daily Beast, "Maine GOP Hopeful Revives Litter Box Hoax [...] The Swamp has unearthed a video of the Republican gubernatorial candidate Bobby Charles which is truly bizarre. It features Charles, a former Trump administration official, repeating the long-debunked claim that schools are providing litter boxes to students who identify as animals. ‘What do you do, by the way, when they get to be 20 and you have to break it to them: ‘Actually, you’re not a cat, and you will have to go to work, and we’re going to not do this kitty little crap anymore?’ he says. Republicans hope to reclaim Maine from term-limited Democratic Gov. Janet Mills. Perhaps he’s planning a litter box in the governor’s mansion?" [Daily Beast, 6/30/26]
June 2026: Charles Mocked Transgender Identity And Compared Transgender Youth To Children Who Think They Were “Cats And Dogs” And Called It “Kitty Litter Crap.” According to the Advocate, "A Republican running for governor in Maine compared transgender youth to children who consider those who identify as animals. Bobby Charles, in an interview with Christian Civic League of Maine leader Nick Adolphsen, offered a condescending view of LGBTQ+ students, comparing gender dysphoria to phobias and what he characterized as other mental health conditions. ‘You've got kids now that apparently think that they're cats and dogs, and we are accommodating that,’ Charles said. ‘Garbage. What do you do, by the way, when you get to be 20, and you break it to them? Actually, you’re not a cat, and you will have to go to work and going to not do this kitty litter crap anymore?’" [The Advocate, 6/4/26]
Education Week: The Debunked Litter Box Hoax Had A “Lasting Impact” And Was Used To “Ostracize LGBTQ Students.” According to Education Week, "All of the claims have been debunked, often by school leaders themselves who posted statements on social media and school websites to limit the rumor’s spread. Powers and his team posted a statement on the school’s Twitter account refuting Bolduc’s claims. But the hoax still has a lasting impact during a time when schools need to be laser focused on solving staffing challenges and helping students regain their academic footing. It was also unfairly and inaccurately used to ostracize LGBTQ students, who are not necessarily part of the furries subculture, in which people dress up as animals." [Education Week, 11/29/22]
July 2026: Charles Mocked LGBTQ+ Pride Celebrations As A Celebration Of “Alphabet Soup” And Questioned Why There Was No “Heterosexual Day Parade.” According to Charles’ interview on The Pastor's Office with Travis Carey, “One part of it is it revolts me that this is what the Democrats think is the most important thing, the sexualization of society. I think there are far more important things, and I think we need to focus on them, but the other side of it is a side of me that looks at this through the lens of George Orwell or Alex Huxley, or these people who said, 'Watch out, because society will become way off course, they're going to go off into the pucker brush, and I say to myself, so we have a celebration of alphabet soup here, basically things that people think that I'm a sexual minority of 12345678910, kind of groups, and this we're going to do a parade for. I just was wondering, where's the heterosexual day parade? I missed where that was at.” [Bobby Charles, The Pastor's Office with Travis Carey, 7/3/26] (VIDEO)