I've gotta say, there seems to be some sort of connection between being a furry and being, at the very least, not entirely straight. yeah, some furries are straight, and more of us avoid the NSFW stuff then people give credit for, but almost every furry I meet is bisexual. I'm pretty sure that I first started becoming deep-down attracted towards boys only after discovering there were other people as obsessed with anthropomorphic, furry cartoon characters as I am. And at first, I was only males I was attracted to were the fictional, furry ones, as far as I can remember. My memories are very murky in this regard, I'm pretty sure I was trying to forget about them completely. Anyone else with similar experiences?
I started coming out as a gay male towards my start in the fandom as well. I was dating someone that lived in Georgia, long distance. We chatted at the start, but we grew to become boyfriends, and the thoughts we had of each other related to our characters more than ourselves, since we roleplayed as such online. Of course, I became bisexual, and I still am, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's because of the fandom moreso the people in it, I believe, and the openness to such sexualities.
I have a very limited knowledge on this matter as I am from a third world country, so i apologize in advance if any of the following words from me hurts you in any way. Personally, I only know one person who is into furries in my circle of friends (I use this term loosely, we're basically just a bunch of geeks who love to draw) and he is obviously gay even though he always denied it. I don't know who he's trying to fool, because anyone can see the way he draws male furries is extremely sexual. Anyways, I hope me sharing this contributes to your theory somehow
Baloonwolf, you make a good point - now that I think about it, I never understood or felt as though homosexuality was wrong (I hated myself for thinking like that, but that's another story...) I bet that we are mostly just very "open to experience", since we're pretty eccentric by most people's standards. Speaking of which, it seems like just about everyone hates furries. We're pretty much the internet's favorite thing to hate, which is odd considering that we mostly keep to ourselves. Of course, in the case of Bronies (I am one, but my furriness isn't limited to it), many don't seem to be able to keep to themselves, so I can see why we annoy people.
I'm a Brony too. (Not a furry, but I don't mind people who are.) I don't know what it is about furry-hate. It seems pretty silly to me. Every fandom has some people with gross kinks. Rule 34 = there is porn of it. Why are furries singled out?
Now curries or really anything of nature isn't really my kind of thing but I do know the 2 people I did know that were curries were bisexual so I don't know what that proves, maybe just the furry community is more open minded.
I actually have a pdf file that is a study on this matter. You are correct in that most of the fandom (at least 2/3 if I remember correctly) don't identify as straight. If you'd like, I could try to find it and post some excerpts of it up here.
The cosplay community is pretty similar. I can remember going to my first convention out of town, and ranting about wanting a girlfriend to one of my friends in our hotel room. She gave me this look and said "You do realize that almost every girl at this convention is gay, right?" It was pretty funny, especially since out of all six of us in that room, I was the only one who wasn't straight. Personally, I believe that it's the more obscure communities that have a lot of LGBT people, just because everyone tends to be a lot more accepting. With cosplay specifically, we already know that what we do is weird, so we just redefine normal. :lol:
I'm not a furry, although once in a while I come across some gay furry images (or even a porn video...) and I can find it arousing. I certainly don't see any issues with furries and I'm more or less interested in the fandom, but more from a psychological point of view because there does seem to be a disproportionate amount of LGBT amongst furries. Even long before I came out, the vast majority of furry images I'd come across were of male furries having sex, which I didn't mind back then either, but that's another story. I don't see myself developing a fursona or becoming a "member" of the furry community though, but I wouldn't be turned off if my (eventual) boyfriend happened to be one. Could be a turn on even...roleplay and whatnot...something different...just not with the whole costume though...I really like to skin-to-skin contact. If you could post the title of the study so I could look it up in its entirety, I'd be really thankful. I'm a bit interested in this.
I've also noted that many furries are bi. Over the years, I've had a lot of furry friends online, and IRL start out as straight, and then come out as gay or bi...and other cases, gay furs move towards bisexuality. It's happened with people I never would have imagined. I think there's ways that the furry fandom let's you explore sexuality that's unlike other arena. Only your imagination is the limit, and I've never seen any group that's less judgmental. If you're gay, fine. If you decide now you're not, also fine. I've always enjoyed the laid back atmosphere surrounding these matters. I've always felt more connected to the furry 'community' than the gay community, perhaps because it seems more like a 'community' to me, someplace I've met close friends who have helped me though hard times, and not expected anything from me, except friendship. I also love the role-play aspect of it...to me, this has always been more fun than video games, because you can make anything happen you want to, as opposed to having a pre-set script. Granted, it's a different genre entirely, but one I find more rewarding, creative and imaginative, whether sexual or not. I'm not sure why people get put off by furries...I know Dan Savage had an axe to grind for a long while before he caved in, but he's still pretty much a jerk about it. I've found some of my closest friends among furries, and I'm very thankful for that.
First off, there's a very high number of furries who are straight. But I think the reason that there seems to be so many not-straight members of the community is because we are generally a very accepting community. We all share a common bond which can be considered taboo (furries), so we feel more comfortable being open about things like sexuality and gender identity because of that bond. The furry community is one of the most supportive communities I've ever seen, and the amount of hate, while still present as it would be anywhere, is typically minimal and is usually overwhelmed by positive stuff.
The study was actually more based on assessing furry stereotypes and whether or not the community actually fit them. Obviously the data gathering process was not the best, but considering the circumstances, it wasn't all that bad either. Anyways, the document is titled "Furries from A to Z (Anthropomorphism to Zoomorphism)" and was authored by seven people, the most well known being Kathleen C. Gerbasi (if you would like the other authors, just ask). You should have no problem finding it or downloading as a .pdf file. I found it a year or two ago when I was trying to help a friend form a defensive argument for furries, and it's just been sitting in my files gathering virtual dust. The document is actually fairly interesting, it's just that it has a bit of technical data included that may hamper reading.
This is interesting cause I always thought furries were sexually attracted to the anthrophomorphic animals they obsessed over. I am really confused because people have always been giving me very different definitions of furries. What exactly is a furry?
Haha my experience with the furry community has been a bit bitter-sweet >.> I hate to say that because so much of it is really my own fault. When I first got involved in the furry world, it really was a very open and loving community. I felt safe to talk about things, explore myself, and met all kinds of wonderful and supportive people. It was really pleasant. I don't really know what happened, but I sort of went really really really downhill. Depression kicked its ugly head into the mix, and I sort of built up walls around the community for the longest time and used it more as an 'ends to a means' >.> Anyways...I identify as bisexual and it was honestly through the furry community I ever really got a chance to explore anything about myself. There was no one to talk to at home, I didn't feel comfortable opening up about it to friends, and really if it wasn't for the community I would've never really been able to understand myself. About the subject at hand...I have been noticing that myself. Though, if you've happened to stalk around the dark corners of the fandom ( as I have ) there are plenty of straight people looking to do an rp, finish off, and go to bed. Mostly males too xD
@Ghost: Simply stated, a furry is someone who likes anthopomorphic characters. The reason you get so many definitions is because each person is different. Some people just think they're cool. Others have a fursona they identify with. Then you have those who enjoy the NSFW section of the fandom. Overall, furry is a pretty vague term and pretty much anyone who says they are a furry is a furry. Sure this creates a bit of confusion at times, but hey, that just keeps things interesting
Not all furries feel a sexual attraction towards their cartoony anthro counterparts, but It's probably a majority. I think that you can't really explain furries unless you are one. For me, it started with Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Fox, and Disney's Robin Hood... in other words, really young. At some point I realized that I tended to relate more to those characters than to humans. And some of them are just plain cute :3 Also, about the fursuit thing, that's a minority. I would not like to do that at all... but fox/cat ears and a big, bushy tail would be a huge turn on
I am a furry and I have noticed this too. I think that the fact that the furry fandom is so open, accepting, and non-judgemental attracts a lot of LGBT people. Not to mention that the fandom offers people the opportunity to explore their sexualities and that leads a lot of people to realize that they are bisexual. I've noticed that this is the case for a lot of less common/more hated communities, though.