I really get wound up when I keep seeing these preposterous claims that school districts across the country are allowing litter boxes in their school for "Furries" as if any school board is going to allow this to happen. The sole purpose behind these stories (and that is all they are) is to keep hatred sparked toward Furries because so many people fail to educate themselves as to what "Furrry" is.
These stories are nothing new and sparked to life in the Western reaches of the US from my understanding a number of years ago now. They have slowly made their way East and have just recently surfaced in my area or Rural Northern NY.
Again there is no basis in reality of the claims yet some people with failed education seem to think the story is some kind of gospel, it truly is amazing what some people will fall for without committing a bit of common sense investigation about something they know absolutely NOTHING about.
With this case so very close to home I felt a need to reply to the article in the local News Paper, and although the local School Board certainly aimed at putting the misinformation down, some of the actual terminology and reference in the article was not exactly correct either but that was most;y due to missing knowledge, of which I corrected the article in my letter to the editor:
To the Editor:
In regards to the article in North Country Now March 23,2022 “’Furries’ rumors at Massena school have no basis says superintendent”
It is no news to me as a Furry that people continue to accept “misinformation” as truth when it comes to the Furry Fandom. The lack of most people to do a little bit of practical research before agreeing with the masses tends to add to the frenzy of the misinformation, and the continuation of a story that started even much farther back than the incident cited in Michigan by a good number of years, which has been kept in circulation by ‘trolls’ that have nothing better to do with their time than perpetuate hatred and misinformation.
First off to explain that ‘Furry’ is a lazy-tongue way of saying ‘Furry Fan’ and to correct the definition given:
A Furry is a person who is a fan of Anthropomorphic Art (animals with human characteristics) if you need a little help most certainly you can think Disney! Movies like ‘Robin Hood’ (1973) or ‘Zootopia’ (2016) and a whole mess of other Disney Characters as well that walk, talk, stand upright, work, play.
The Furry Fandom differs from other fandoms in the fact that nearly all of the characters that you will find in the Furry Fandom are created by its individual members, they are all (or nearly all) Original Characters (OC’s).
To correct a misconception, not all Furries are interested in dressing up as their character. In fact ‘Fursuiters’ make up only 20 to 25 percent of the Furry Fandom. It is an art form that does not appeal to a good portion of the Furry Fandom although the Fursuits are the most outwardly visible side of the Furry Fandom. Cost is also very inhibitive as the cost of a ‘full’ fursuit can run well up past $4,800 in many cases and sometimes much more.
Another misconception is that all Furries think they are animals. Wrong! No, Furries Do Not think they are animals. This misconception may well come from the definitions of Therians and/or Otherkin (of which there are some cases that someone who is a Therian or Otherkin may be a Furry as well but it is not a high percentage). This is where a little research can go a long way, as from within the Fandom when a Furry such as myself sees people actually believing these preposterous stories of litter-boxes in schools for furries (which by the way would not even actually manifest at a Furry Convention!) gives us reason to believe that person has failed in their education at the very least.
Anyone is welcome to educate themselves on the Furry Fandom if they choose to perhaps lessen the likelihood of putting their proverbial ‘foot-in-their-mouth’ like so many do when jumping to conclusions over something that sounds so totally ridiculous (even to a Furry).
There has been scientific research done on the Furry Fandom for well over a decade by the team of Doctors at FurScience and they have the correct answers! Check out what is fact and what is false.
Andrew Kelley (Relic)
President & CEO
North Country Anthropomorphics
Lisbon
