Admitting that you are a Furry or a Therian online or IRL can be a daunting proposition. It seems to be one of the few groups that it is still OK to openly mock and even hate. The goal of this panel is to have an open discussion on why this may happen and how we, as a collective community, can begin to counteract it. As a middle-aged therian, being open about who I am has been a goal (and a struggle) my entire life, but I think being open helps to (ironically) humanize us to the masses. The hope is that the participants in our talk can also share some of their stories of discrimination and how they might have overcome this with some people. Even if it is a little thing, it may help the person next to you to also overcome some obstacles they are facing. It is how we as a community help each other. This will be a safe space for all to discuss their experiences and thoughts and hopefully we can come up with some actionable goals to keep improving the perception of therians and furries for future generations!
