halvaFeb 26, 2023
Alexis

Dear furries and the furry-adjacent,

This is your periodic reminder that the artist Ken Sample - also known as Ken Cougr - is widely credited as having invented the very concept of a fursona, and that he is a Black man.

This is also your periodic reminder that non-heterosexual, non-cisgender people have been a significant part of the furry fandom for as long as the fandom has had a coherent name for itself, and that the fandom has a long and brilliant history of trans people finding themselves through the exploration of self the furry fandom offers. Mockery of the furry fandom, therefore, is very frequently used as a cover for the hateful assholes of the world to harass LGBTQIA+ people - "furry isn't a protected class" being the most commonly-claimed justification.

Nazi furs fuck off. 

Edit, courtesy of Bennie in the replies: "Reminder that Ken is around still and has a Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/KenCougr/​ "

Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

Patreon
Feb 26, 2023 at 5:39amWeb
Show threadWanderingBeekeeperFeb 26, 2023
@LexYeen My first furcon, I spent most of the weekend apologizing for running out of purple rings and not being able to build more rainbow jewelry. The next one, I took a gallon ziploc bag half full of rainbow bracelets and trans bracelets, and was still building more at the con. I miss doing the furry circuit.
Show threadSandra ΘΔFeb 27, 2023
@LexYeen According to wikifur Ken designed or drew the character M'Ress for Star Trek The Animated Series but I can't find his credits on that anywhere.
Show threadSandra ΘΔFeb 27, 2023
@LexYeen I read this wrong. He was inspired by the character. Just means that Star Trek inspired the fandom.
Show threadLily BunnyMar 5, 2023
@LexYeen Didn't he also draw macro art?
Show threadAlexisMar 5, 2023
@AshBunny That would be what he's most known for in the fandom, yes. 
Show threadLily BunnyMar 5, 2023
@LexYeen Hell yeah. Iconic.
Show threadArcturax 🦇Mar 7, 2023
@LexYeen I've ran into him at a few conventions and I can add he is genuinely one of the nicest people you could meet in the fandom. Pure class is such a rarity in the world. Ken is a treasure!
Show threadAlexisMar 7, 2023
@arcturax I've been lucky enough to meet him, too. He's one of the chillest, most humble dudes I've ever encountered thanks to the fandom, and the world is better for having him in it.
Show threadBennie (old account)Apr 28, 2023

@LexYeen

Reminder that Ken is around still and has a Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/KenCougr/

Patreon

Patreon is empowering a new generation of creators. Support and engage with artists and creators as they live out their passions!

Patreon
Show threadAlexisApr 28, 2023
@bennie I knew I'd forgotten *something* in the post. Thanks, bigtig. 
Show threadRiley S. FaelanApr 28, 2023
@LexYeen: Furries should be a protected class, though. Otherwise, you can bet your bottom doughnut that as soon as the GOPniks find trans women and children too strong to bully, they'll turn their attention towards furries. ​
Show threadAlexisApr 28, 2023

@riley Remember the genuine outrage from Republicans about the "litter boxes in schools" shitposts? When the "litter boxes" in question are, in fact, an *emergency bathroom option* that was rolled out in some jurisdictions as a response to the rise in school shootings? Yet all the scream-crying was about furries and what students identify as?

You're less wrong than you might have expected.

Show threadRiley S. FaelanApr 28, 2023

@LexYeen: I know. ​

Let's spread the awareness.

Show thread🦊 🍸Faux around & find out⚠️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Apr 28, 2023
@LexYeen All good info, but I would offer that it be amended only to say that Ken should be credited with the “creation of foundational concepts for the modern fandom of furry characters and use of a fursonae.” Animal-Human anthropomorphic anthropology predates the fandom and Ken, perhaps by centuries in American Indian, Greco-Roman and Egyptian mythos. But the current narrative and vision are absolutely as you offer herein, and I welcome its reminder. (See also #furrygeezer )
Show threadJurannApr 28, 2023
@LexYeen I think a lot of furries take the origins and history of furry fandom and "things we do" for granted. By the time I joined in '93 fursonas were already a "take for granted" thing. Amazingly, I'm largely credited with making the acronym "IRL" something you say publicly, through the wonder of the Wayback Machine and me posting it in archived media for the first time. I didn't invent it, sure as Ken Sample didn't invent fursonas, but it's good to know from whence things came.
Show threadAwassi is SheepApr 28, 2023
@LexYeen Never knew this! I have noticed that people who tend to hate furries also tend to be anti-LGBTQIA+. I know because I use to be one of them. Huge emphasis on use to be, considering I am not a nonbinary gay furry
The furry fandom is so good at not letting Nazis into the community