So, I started seeing this guy. He is amazing in every single way. I could totally see falling in love with him.
He has this kind of side to him that apparently a lot of people have a issue with. He is a Furry.
TO be honest, before we started dating and all that, I had a really strange view of what a furry was. I went to a comiccon one year and I had this little beanie baby teddy attached to my backpack, and some random boy started following me. This was my first encounter with a furry and I quickly took the bear off once he told me that little furry animals attached to backpacks were a way for them (furries) to show themselves to one another. The whole thing wasn't so weird until he started asking me back ot his apartment for a good time and what kind of suit did I have? Was it good for sex?
So, yeah, I had a weird view of this social group.
So, whne my guy told me that he was also like that, I was werided out. After all, who could blame me? After a long talk about it and the sorting things out about his interest in the Furry Fandom, everything was cool. In fact, he is going to a con this week with others of his type. Surprisingly I have no problems with it, even though the week away will be killer. So, I looked into the fandom for a bit, just to see what it was all about.
Now, for as many pages that I ran into that have to do with furry things..from art to message boards, I ahve found a lot of negative things also. Apparently there is a popular opinion about furries that make them dangerous. DANGEROUS? These are people that like the animal side of things. No one has ever considered me dangerous because a couple times I have gone to a event dressed as my Everquest character *once girl, once boy*.
Sure, some of the art is a little strange and such, but what really is the big deal? I started listening to a guy that is not only a furry but has a webpage and is a funny comedian " http://www.gryffyndevelopment.com " where one of his rants is about this subject.
Maybe it is easier to understand the need to be different, since not only am I gay, but a gamer and a geek. Just six years ago that would be a social death sentence. " Obviously the D&D made you gay and lead to the satanic worship you take part in."
Why do people have to try and figure out why people are the way they are? It is okay for men to go out in drag and for us to teach our children on Halloween that they can be whatever they want and lie to them about Santa Claus and all the other messed up crap that our society has inflicted upon the children, but drawing the line when it comes to dressing up in a wolf suit?
Come on.
And some of the hate that I read is pretty potent stuff. Did they get tired of picking on other people that aren't average and decide that this is the newest group to lash out some hatred that is misdirected? You know, I used to hate gay people. You know why I used to hate gay people? Because I was in the closet. Are these people shunning something that they really don't know about because it interests them and that frightened them? I don't really think I have to answer that.
Now, I am not a furry, and even if this boyfriend is, I'm not about to change my beliefs. It really isn't my thing. Just like dressing up as Illandria the High Elf for a Las Vegas con isn't for him. But I respect that not only does he take part in this kind of lifestyle, but actively takes part in the social structure of it. Like every othr off the beaten path grouping, it is a community. Yeah, to some it might be weird as hell, but you know what? So are a lot of aspects to 'normal' life.
later all.