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/​ "

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@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.
@LexYeen I read this wrong. He was inspired by the character. Just means that Star Trek inspired the fandom.