Furry Fandom - Wikipedia

The first works uniquely associated with the furry fandom were created in 1976, when cartoonists Ken Fletcher and Reed Waller created the amateur press association Vootie, which was dedicated to animal-focused art.[22] Many of its featured works contained adult themes, such as "Omaha" the Cat Dancer, which contained explicit sex.[23][24] Vootie was at first distributed only through local conventions and Ken's contacts, but grew a small following over the next several years. The publication ran for 37 issues from 1976 to 1983 and was succeeded by the amateur press association Rowrbrazzle, which was active from 1984 onwards.[25]

According to fandom historian and editor of Rowrbrazzle[26] Fred Patten, the concept of furry originated at a science fiction convention in 1980,[11] when a character drawing from Steve Gallacci's Albedo Anthropomorphics started a discussion of anthropomorphic characters in science fiction novels. This led to the formation of a discussion group that met at science fiction conventions and comics conventions.[27]

The specific term furry fandom was being used in fanzines as early as 1983,[28] and had become the standard name for the genre by the mid-1990s when it was defined as "the organized appreciation and dissemination of art and prose regarding 'Furries', or fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters".[10] Prior to this point, these anthropomorphic animals were generally referred to as funny animals, a term used in comics since at least the 1870s.[29] Internet newsgroup discussion in the 1990s created some separation between fans of funny animal characters and furry characters, meant to avoid the baggage that was associated with the term "furry".[30] Some fans consider the origins of furry fandom to be much earlier, with fictional works such as Kimba, the White Lion, released in 1965, Richard Adams's novel Watership Down, published in 1972 (and its 1978 film adaptation), and Disney's Robin Hood being oft-cited examples.[11]

Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley are credited with starting the first room parties for furry socialization that evolved into the later concept of furry conventions. Mark had held screenings of cartoons featuring anthropomorphic animals since 1977, and in 1985 at Westercon, Mark and Rod held a themed room party where Looney Tunes episodes and Animalympics were shown. The event was a success, and the two continued to hold similar parties at different conventions. At the following year's Westercon, the event was branded as a "furry party", and such events soon took off at different science fiction and fantasy conventions.[31] By 1989, there was sufficient interest to stage the first furry convention, Confurence 0,[32] which was held at the Holiday Inn Bristol Plaza in Costa Mesa, California.[33] Once the Internet became accessible to the general population in the 1990s, it became the most popular means for furry fans to socialize.[13] The newsgroup alt.fan.furry was created in November 1990, and virtual environments such as MUCKs also became popular places on the internet for fans to communicate.[34] As of 2023, the most popular furry website has become FurAffinity, an art sharing website and forum. The messaging program Telegram is the preeminent way furries communicate with each other, and social media sites like Twitter, Discord, and Reddit remain popular sites in the furry fandom.[35]