Many people are unaware that in the fetish community it is just that—a community. If you’re into BDSM, there are weekly potluck ‘meet and greets’ all over Atlanta. I think it’s a part of feeling accepted, because it’s commonly believed that people with different views on sexuality are deviants.
But the biggest social gatherings are conventions, and Atlanta is host to a few of them. Everyone knows or has at least heard of DragonCon, which is the largest convention in Atlanta with upwards of 30,000 participants. But there are smaller, more fetish-related conventions, like FroliCon (the BDSM and Fetish convention).
I wrote a column about Furries for our Sex Issue, and I got an outpouring of contact from the Furry community, and was thus invited to Furry Weekend Atlanta (FWA)—the furry-fandom’s equivalent of DragonCon. I happily accepted.
I got to experience the cultural gathering of furries from all over the world. I also got to sit down with Ethan (who is the head of registration for the convention and a Georgia State student) and talk furries.
Of course, I couldn’t just go as a normally dressed person—I got a cat costume (a lot better than my previous beaver costume). I put on my mask and attached my tail and went where no Signal columnist had gone before—in the middle of 3,000 furries and furry supporters.
As I walked up the steps to the Westin Hotel in Atlanta, I was a little overwhelmed. Everyone had a tail, and their tails were a lot larger and poofier than mine.
There were also many people in furry suits, which are the full body suits that most people think of when they think of furries. We checked in and got our badges and started walking around the convention.
There was a room or activity for everyone, and I was surprised by the amount of families there. I’ll be honest that I had an image in my mind of furries humping each other in the lobby with the body suits still on. I went into the art room and looked at tons of furry-inspired art.
When I sat down with Ethan and asked him about the furry culture, he told me that the furry-fandom started with Anthropomorphic art—where animals and people merge into one unique species.
As the furry art took off, the subculture grew, and a few years later the fandom was in full bloom.
As I walked around, I noticed there was one aspect of furries that I didn’t know—they were normal people, just like you and me. This was another instance where I thought it would be different—these people, in my mind, were supposed to be seedy and creepy and into having sex with animals. None of that was going on here.
It’s a pretty largely accepted stereotype that furries are into beastiality, and I wanted clarification.
“But it’s really about you being an animal in human form, not being an actual animal,” Ethan explained.
“I have two dogs and I would kick someone’s ass if they touched an animal in a sexual way.”
The furry community cares about animals so much that this year they donated over $18,000 to their wildcat conservatory from FWA ticket sales.
Instead of the stereotypical, animal-humping people that I thought would be there, I found friendly, fun people who accepted me without any hesitation.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not sexually attracted to someone dressed in an animal suit, but nevertheless, I had a great time and really connected with the furry subculture in Atlanta. Will I dress up in a full body suit? No. Will I get furry porn? No. Will I go back next year? Definitely.
