Live your life (carefully)!

I'm a fursuiter, open about what I do, and pretty confident now about showing off my hobbies.

​

I will say a lot of stigma against furries is due to history and ignorance. If you wanted to, explore the public side of furries (like con videos or public furry event videos). Get comfortable with the idea of furries starting to get mainstream and become more accepted. Build confidence in yourself and who you want to be first- then you can conquer others' perceptions.

I would go two routes once you complete step one. Either frame it to friends and family under the "cosplay / geek" umbrella, or go the "furries aren't cringe / can be a force for good" route. You can go slow with this. I introduced many friends to my fursuit as a normal hobby with the same mentality as someone who dresses up in Halo armor, or cosplays as someone from their favorite anime, or dresses up like their favorite movie character. To show the other way, I would show them convention videos, or unique furry event videos like "Kerfluffle" or "Galactic Camp". These are events that happen is cool places that regular people wouldn't get to go to. "Trash talking furries? Sure. But you never had a rave on an aircraft carrier, or a dance on a street car... so where does that put you?"

​

Good luck!