Oh and you mentioned getting hurt as well. I hope you're in a better place and healed past that.

And that whoever hurt you gets theirs.

Right. I'm all good over here. It's all just sharing info and feelings.

It happens, I'll live. <3

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.

The constructive way of healing from my pain has been informing others of the dangers of the furry fandom. How you feel about that is your business, because you're in defense mode. You know damn well how people would react if they saw the deep down dirt that goes on, and your discomfort with that is what fuels your response here.

None of this has anything to do with conservatives who ALSO have horrible vices, beliefs and behavior, and whataboutism is always a dodge for people who are uncomfortable with addressing behavior in their own tribes. Conservatives didn't make up the litterbox hoax, 4chan trolls did and everyone ate it up. We both know the litterbox thing wasn't true.

And yes, that is a separate con. The behavior in it isn't rare though. These sort of people are involved in LOTS of conventions and institutions, you know it, and you feel the need to play it down.

This isn't lashing out, that's just how you need to frame it for yourself. And lady gaga fans don't have forums like e621 where they post porn traced from pictures of children.

This is just you on tribalism.

Again, I don't hate you and I don't want to cause you harm or distress. I don't hate furries and not all furries are bad people, but the "wide brush" I'm painting with is dipped in facts.

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.

You phrased it better than I could have. Truthful and even handed. Thank you.

It happened to me a lot on my way out of the fandom, and from people with unconscionable vices and paraphilias behind closed doors. When I tried to expose it from within the fandom, they labeled me mentally ill on social media. The people I went to for help.

I don't hate furries. I hate what happened to me, what I got exposed to, and the parts of the furry fandom that continue to inflict on others, ESPECIALLY young LGBT people, what happened to me.

Let me put it this way, I wouldn't wish what happened to me on anyone, including the person that just blamed me for my own sexual abuse.

Yeah, this exchange is over if thats how you see it. You literally blamed me for my sexual abuse.

We're done.

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.

You can think whatever you want about me.

Is my sexual abuse invalid because it wasn't inflicted on me by a conservative religious figure?

"your own decisions led you to get abused"

Imagine saying that to someone. Seriously.

Yes, conventions are sectioned off that way.

And, again, i was in the fandom for 20 years. I know the by-lines and the things furries say when the facts come out.

The furry fandom only pays lip service to "we actively expel those people"

Can you tell me how you've actively done that? And can you also explain to the people here why "cub" and "feral" are two of the most popular porn tags?

Maybe you can tell everyone here what RC Fox did?

again, you're not dealing with an uninformed normie. I went to AC and other conventions for 20+ years.

No hate, but save your "sorry you got hurt, but..." comments. It's all furries can ever say in regards to what goes on in the fandom.

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.

https://twitter.com/ConStaffWatch/status/1399573940054347778?s=20

On the surface it's identical to anime and sci fi fandom conventions.

However, I was part of the furry fandom for 20 years. It got me sexually abused and exposed to the absolute worst of sexual fetish culture.

Not every furry is a bad person, but the furry fandom is absolutely home to the most depraved, harmful, boundary violating people I've ever had the displeasure of encountering. I am being literal when I say the furry fandom has cutesy terms for child and animal coded porn. "Cub" and "Feral"

Don't assume a colorful costume has a whimsical, good natured person inside it.

https://twitter.com/ConStaffWatch/status/1399573940054347778?s=20

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

Please, please be careful with your kid. The furry fandom isn't safe no matter how cute and colorful the costumes are. I left the furry fandom far behind after exposing a ring of people cozying up to animal and child abusers for access to "videos"

Not all furries are bad people, but the furry fandom attracts A LOT of sexually abusive people. I don't want anyone going through what I did, especially kids.

What, and I cannot express this strongly enough, THE FUCK.

And I oop