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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeesvej wrote

I was a part of the furry fandom for 20+ years.

Not every furry is a bad person, not by a long shot, and hating furries out-of-hand without the facts is wrong.

However, the furry fandom itself is dangerously populated with people like this in positions of power and influence https://twitter.com/ConStaffWatch/status/1399573940054347778?s=20

I want to make it very clear: this event is run and organized by people who wear cute costumes to disassociate from their paraphilias. The people who attend this event all have these things in common and it is NOT uncommon in the furry fandom at all.

Anthrocon itself has staff members who in their online lives are openly zoophilic.

I say this with 20 years of experiences, and the therapy it took to get me past the sexual abuse I suffered and the things I saw people engaged in behind closed doors: there are parts of the furry fandom that are so dark and corrupt if more people knew about, there wouldn't BE any furry conventions.

Short version, facts:

Anthrocon is a Pittsburgh mainstay and it's not going anywhere and brings a lot of money to the city. Not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom has some HORRENDOUS sexual abuse and paraphilic obsessions. It is not as cute and safe as it seems.

I only say this because I don't want anyone ever going through what I did. Be careful, not hateful.

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pacbyeo t1_jeezsmy wrote

Everyone is treating you like shit in these comments and I hate it. I'm sorry for what happened to you and hope you find a way to heal.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jef1hnr wrote

Thank you for your kindness. It's okay though, I know how it goes and it's still important for me to inform others so they can make their own decisions.

I was an insecure gay kid that thought the furry fandom was the only place for me because weird/geek/lack of confidence...turns out that's what abusers are looking for. My abuser got away long ago, but after I left the fandom, one of the people I tried to warn others of went to jail for distributing videos of animals on children to popular furry circles in the Denver/Seattle.

I did heal thankfully. Good therapy, good family and friends, and determination. I know who I am now without a proxy identity. Leaving the parasocial social media sphere of it all did wonders for my mental health too.

And just to put a fine point on it, I don't hate furries and furry hate out-of-hand is wrong. I think people should be able to know the facts about what really goes on so they can come to a decision on their own. For me, that was "not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom itself is lousy with sexual abuse and out of control paraphilic fetishism.

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pacbyeo t1_jef36dc wrote

I'm happy to hear things are better. It's good to come forward with what happened regardless of what people say. Especially for men. I feel like they don't often talk about SA. I didn't even know what anthrocon was so I'm not the target audience for the message but I did learn something.

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checkpoint_hero t1_jef1tak wrote

You can feel bad for someone and also downvote when they post essentially the same comment as a reply to every comment thread in the post

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pacbyeo t1_jef2f64 wrote

I'm pretty sure they are posting the same thing repeatedly because they don't feel heard. I'm sorry but I'm not about attacking SA victims. Just wanted to tell them that I heard them out.

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checkpoint_hero t1_jef4up2 wrote

It's not like I've seen a single comment outright attacking them. Some downvotes and people disagreeing with points and providing sourced information and their own personal experiences.

Again, downvotes are not attacking.

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LeoTheBirb t1_jefwwk2 wrote

Ugh, this user has a history. They used to troll on a furry discussion sub before getting banned for harassing the other users. This was after doing it for months.

They quite literally tracked down one of the users, somehow found an account they had on a weird porn website, and decided to post it on Reddit as a “gotcha”. I called them out for literally stalking someone and they DMd me a wall of text before blocking me.

Weirdest encounter I’ve ever had on this site.

They have a tendency to spam the same thing over and over and over.

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Merusk t1_jefmf0e wrote

I don't know what social media trend caused the turnaround, but I recall nothing but hate and derision for furries by the general internet in the past because of everything you just listed.

At some point it's become "you're just hateful because you're disturbed by their fetish."

My sincere hope you're healing and in a better place now.

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not-evileye12 t1_jef5xpn wrote

sorry to hear what you have been through and also a shame how some people are responding to you on here. That twitter thread was mortifying to read. thank you for sharing and spreading awareness.

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jef6zsj wrote

I appreciate that, thank you.

Thing is, I get why they do it and I think I got past being mad about it. Tribalism feelings are powerful and hard to break out of. Besides, it's easier to get your real point across to more people when you don't get heated about it. I sure used to.

It's NOT all furries, not by a longshot. It's just that the fandom itself is attractive to...well...the people you saw in that twitter thread. That stuff goes both unchecked and passively ignored by normal furries, and the problems get worse.

I don't want anyone going thru what I did.

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[deleted] t1_jeeth82 wrote

[deleted]

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ThatFabulousBastard t1_jeeuuig wrote

It's not triggering for me anymore. I don't want anyone going through what I did and informing others while framing it that not all furries are bad people is important to me.

And, again, i'm not painting all furries as bad because that's simply not true.

However, I found that the furries that are most upset by this are usually the ones that "if the shoe fits" applies to.

so you can take a time-out if you're gonna be needlessly rude.

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[deleted] t1_jeev4va wrote

[deleted]

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No-Razzmatazz- t1_jeewn6b wrote

> I'm glad I didn't ever take you seriously.

You post in r/ABDL and think abuse victims shouldn't be taken seriously. Says a lot about you.

LMAO

YIKES

E: u/FuzzPunkMutt deleting their comments acting like they don't have a weird child fetish. Just a harmless fur fan nothing to see here. Bring your kids to the parade just don't let them get too close.

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