Originally posted on Live Journal on 13 August 2004.

Tonight the Fur and Loathing episode of CSI was on. I saw what I wanted: Katherine Harris saying “I’m having a Hunter Thompson flashback and it’s weirding me out.” That’s it! That’s all I wanted to see! The direct reference to the Great Gonzo himself then off to PBS and Foyle's War. I wondered, though, what HST thought of using his title for that episode? He probably figured: They (“Furries”) are Freaks and Weirdos but no worse than any of the other Freaks and Weirdos in Las Vegas, so why the hell not?

Certainly, I would think that people look at “Furries” with a certain fear and loathing. Why would people, most of them adults, find anthropomorphized animals, like from a child’s cartoon, physically attractive? That isn’t too weird though, almost accepted to some extant, why else would they make characters like Lola Bunny? No, that’s not the weird part, sexualizing is the weird part, but let’s save that for later on.

Taking them seriously is by far the biggest element of the Furry Fandom. It is the cornerstone of it, in fact. That too isn’t weird either, just ask fans of C.J. Cherryh, Andre Norton, S. Andrew Swann, H.G. Wells, Robert C. O’Brien, Jane Leslie Conly, Garry Kilworth, Larry Nevin, Dean Ing, Poul Anderson, David Pulver, Steve Jackson, Neil Gaiman, Gary Gygax, George Lucas, Chris Roberts and too many other authors, video and roleplaying game designers, screenwriters, film makers, and mainstream comic writers to name. Taking such characters seriously in so-called “speculative fiction” is very common, so how does that make the Furry Fandom weird? In my opinion it does not, per se, but the nature of it the world either being exclusively Furry, especially a modern or historical setting, or having such a large number that they are too visible, like in my writing. Let’s face it, if Shanda the Panda was drawn with humans it would merely be a slightly racy soap-opera comic and of little interest to readers like me.

The weird part is sexualizing them, and not quite even then. I presented my story Tally Ho! to a group of other science fiction writers and in the context of that story the scenes which involved sexualized Furries were taken in stride. So in the right context there is no problem. It is the fact that such a large group of people can and do fully sexualize anthropomorphic animals. It’s one thing to put it into the context of a setting, as many Furry authors and artists do and often do well. In general, though, people find graphic depiction, both literally in art and figuratively in writing, of Furry sex as unusual. Even in small amounts the art is considered very taboo compared to humans in the same situations. I have received comments like “they’re lesbian?” from people looking at Shanda the Panda. Omaha the Cat Dancer was specifically involved in several court cases as indecent. (Though in New Zealand it wasn’t censored at all and sold without restriction! Go figure.) It would never dawn on most people that “cartoon characters” could have a sex life. If they asked, I would willingly show my parents my Furrlough collection and would likely show them Shanda & Katmandu, Omaha, and a whole list of other comics, but I would never show them Genus, Wild! and Terrie Smith’s Little Paws. If I did I’d have an “intervention” about it with my psychiatrist.

Now the most glaring example of Bad Craziness in the Furry Fandom is Fursuiters and Lifestylers. These guys are the bane of us. They by far the least common and most visible in the entire Fandom and dear God they make us look crazy. Often the Mass Media latches onto this entirely and doesn’t even see people like me. Why would they? The Trekkies most people think of are the World Famous Klingons in Denny’s, but not my friend Paul.

P.T. Barnum knew that people wanted to see freaks and he delivered them. Today, the news media has to compete with other entertainment, which would explain a lot in this country today, but I won’t go there. What it means is that if a Furry Con came to Louisville, The Courier-Journal would put it on the front page of their Features section with “Furball” in bright red 200-point type across the picture of a Fursuiter with “Furries and their lovers invade Freedom Hall” underneath it. They’ll put a spoiler on the front page of the paper, too. Invariably they’d interview only a handful of “Furries” who will more-or-less paint the picture of a group of Freaks. The next day they’ll get a few letters to the editor, one from me, but feel certain in the journalist integrity. The independent paper, Louisville’s Eccentric Observer, would probably paint a better picture since they would probably be willing to have people like me write the story.

So that’s it folks! Welcome to the Weird World of Furries, we’ll never be anything else, so deal with it. I won’t even get into the allegations of bestiality, pedophilia, being almost exclusively homosexual, and other non-truths. They also say that Gypsies steal children and that roleplayers sacrifice cats. People like us are in such a minority that there is no defense. What’ll we do? Call the ALCU? Hell no, they’d laugh at us. So in the words of Han Solo, “Laugh it up, fuzz ball.” You’ll need it if you come out of your fur-lined closet. Myself? I’m warm and cozy in there, and I ain’t coming out without a fight.