Asexuality in the furry fandom

[Southpaw]

I don't have too much to add that hasn't already been addressed but I strongly appreciate the nuance and diversity in the ace spectrum here. I'm asexual myself and do have some general interests that are often perceived as sexual, but I do not experience sexual pleasure from them. I figured out I'm ace on my 26th birthday and wish I'd found out much sooner, as it would've saved me a lot of awkward moments.

I'll say something slightly opposite and address that while furry communities have a ways to go for ace/aro inclusion and I've definitely felt uncomfortable around furries before, it's ultimately many times better about this than 'normies' I've had the displeasure of being around. Especially working a bunch of public-facing jobs and being an Uber driver, the drama and horrendous disrespect of boundaries I see around heteronormative people is absolutely mind boggling, you would believe that

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literal sexual assault

is perfectly normal and even expected while around them. In a patriarchal society there's hardly consequences for that, and speaking out against serious harm gets you outed as unmanly or queer and harassed. Normie queer folks can have some godawful etiquette too, having spent enough time in gay bars and a local bathhouse. The sheer amount of times I've been told I "just haven't had good sex" or that I'm weird in a derogatory way for sexual disinterest by normies versus furries is easily 100:1. I always feel far, far safer around furries even if the fandom isn't perfect.