As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis try a presidential race, he still finds time for his lifelong hobby of angering different communities with his legislation and bad opinions about people and things. Now, it looks like he has a new community to add to that list: furries.
Megaplex, an Orlando-based furry convention dedicated to the art of making and wearing anthropomorphic character costumes, has announced that it will have to lift an age limit in response to Florida SB 1438, or the child protection that makes “knowingly admitting a child to a live adult performance” a first-degree misdemeanor. The legislation was primarily enacted to target drag performers because right-wing evangelicals attributed the drag performance to a sexual display, even if it is not true per se.But due to its vague wording, it makes sense that a furry convention would be naturally cautious, as the ignorant also view furs as inherently evil.
As rolling stone points out in its status report, while furs are not inherently sexual, there are subsections of these communities that engage in sexual content related to the dressing of their costumes. Megaplex has been an all-ages event so far, but it looks like the event organizers are trying to protect their attendees and staff now that Florida law might be weaponized against them.
“This decision was a difficult one,” event organizers said in a statement. Twitter. “But Megaplex has not forgotten or abandoned our younger members of the fandom and is exploring event and activity options to include all age groups and their family members.”
Basically, DeSantis is on a lot of people’s shit list in Florida for supporting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, like the colloquially known “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prevents discussion of sexual orientation. and gender identity in schools. It affects the furry community because many of them identify as queer in one way or another.
Its rooting in sectarian nonsense has also led to a ongoing feud between budding president and megalithic Disney corporation, which called for the repeal of the bill last year. So far, the feud would have cost the guy a billion dollar development plan.
