Did the furry fandom helps you discover your gender? Did it help you feel more welcome?
For me personally, being a furry helps me to cope with dysphoria for years before my egg cracked. I used to imagine that I’m an anthro animal all the time to cope with dysphoria before I even knew what dysphoria was.
And aside from a few trans communities (like r/egg_irl), the furry fandom also exposes myself to queer people and queer media in general, which in retrospect might help me sympathize with them more instead of hating it like what most people do.
I’m so glad that this community is very accepting towards people of all sexualities and gender. Being trans in this fandom generally feels pretty safe, at least safer than most other fandoms. Thank you so much.
The fact that I kept sketching this one dog girl in my sketchbooks in middle school and high school was a sign that something was up. (I didn’t realize it at the time.) I wanted to her to be real so that I could talk to her and hang out with her. But then over time I realized I wanted to become her, lol.
Being a furry does not inform my gender identity whatsoever – I don’t “identify” as a furry, rather, it is a hobby and I am a big fan of it. BUT, like many people, the fandom and the sheer diversity of characters makes it the perfect place to explore identity. And I definitely did that.