Alt.fan.furry

alt.fan.furry ("a.f.f" or "AFF") was a newsgroup created by Tzoq on December 18, 1990. It was a gathering place for all furry discussion, but later became known for extensive flamewars. Flamewars were in part blamed on the Burned Fur movement.Who Dealt This Mess, Burned Fur Wiki, Circa 2006. (Accessed 3/14/2022) However, Burned Fur cannot be blamed for flamewars alone, considering their relatively short lifespan next to the newsgroup.
==History==
While alt.fan.furry may be one of the most well known of the furry newsgroups, it was not the first, having been preceded by alt.fan.albedo which released a month earlier circa November 1, 1990.Furry list and what to call this group... alt.fan.albedo. Nov 1, 1990 (Accessed 3/13/2022)
Flamewars and differing opinions on what constituted as furry would cause at least one spinoff newsgroup seven years later, alt.lifestyle.furry, which was a furry lifestyler group. It opened in the beginning of January, 1997.
As of April 2022 alt.fan.furry is mostly inactive, it's front page filled with spam, bots, and advertisements. However, the occasional relevant post about furries is still made, such as with the Apr 1, 2022 thread "Re: State Senator Calls for Investigation Into 'Furries'."Re: State Senator Calls for Investigation Into 'Furries', alt.fan.furry. April 1, 2022. (Accessed 4/30/2022) New threads rarely receive the same attention as they once did, with posts only getting a small handful of replies compared to the fifty-plus replies old threads could get.
==Discussions==
===Definition of "Furry"===
What defines a furry was a discussion that appeared very early on in furry fandom history, with alt.fan.furry members attempting to put words to what they considered to be or not to be furry as early as 1996. A post titled "History of the Furry Part 1" was one such alt.fan.furry thread on the topic. In this thread multiple media-based characters are given credit as being some of the earliest content, such as Gertie the dinosaur as being the first "scalie," and both Felix the cat and Mickey Mouse being seen as furries. However, a few others questioned whether or not such characters counted as furry, especially Gertie. More extremely, some comments actually credited works of art and gods of ancient history as being furry, such as Anubis and a carved lion statue from 28,000 B.C.History of the Furry Part 1, Alt.fan.furry, May 5, 1996. (Accessed 10/21/2020)
===Furry Lifestylers and alt.lifestyle.furry===
"Furry Lifestylers" may have seen themselves born out of alt.fan.furry, and would go on to split from the newsgroup into their own. Lifestylers were furries who believed in order to be a furry certain practices had to take place, such as making/wearing fursuits and art, or having certain spiritual beliefs such as therians.Lifestyler FAQ, Tigerden, Mar 24, 2019. (Accessed 10/20/2020) This is in opposition to many other furrys' opinions, as many furries saw lifestylers as gatekeeping the community, and eventually lead to the split between alt.fan.furry and alt.lifestyle.furry. Overall, furry lifestylers were a sect that aimed at defining furry under stricter terms than a large majority of other furries. Discussion and debate surrounding liftestylers as common on alt.fan.furry, such as in the Apr 14, 2002 thread titled ""Furry Lifestyle" (Was the Gallery tread)""Furry Lifestyle" (Was the Gallery tread), alt.fan.furry. Apr 14, 2002 (Accessed 3/14/2022)
===Homosexuality===
The topic of furries and sexuality, especially of homosexuality, started early in furry fandom. In 1993, some furries on alt.fan.furry discussed the nature of being furry and gay. The original poster shared their opinion that "Being furry has the characteristics of being gay."Being Furry. alt.fan.furry. Nov 14, 1993 (Accessed 3/18/2022) They defined the act of being furry as being similar to being born a certain race and sex; as being something that could not be changed. 
Later in another conversation from 1998 a member named Daphne Lage discussed what she felt was an abundance of men in the furry fandom, particularly at conventions. She shared a story that came from another "femme" furry, who had felt that it had been difficult to find furry art to buy or be interested in, because she felt it was all too focused on homosexual men.Furry Statistics Question, alt.fan.furry. Apr 21, 1998 (Accessed 3/18/2022)
In another conversation from 2004, Dan Skunk said: "On the topic of sex, most furries are male and the most common sexual preferences are gay and bi,"the definition of "furry" alt.fan.furry. Jan 18, 2004 (Accessed 3/18/2022) and then also saying "Quite possibly the perception of the gay/straight balance is skewed by the gay side being more vocal."the definition of "furry" alt.fan.furry. Jan 19, 2004 (Accessed 4/30/2022)
===Zoophilia===
Zoophilia was another major topic of debate on alt.fan.furry between the 1990s and 2010s, with some users of the group comparing homosexuality to zoophilia in both a positive and negative light. As of 2022, zoophilia is still a hot point of debate among furries, as throughout furry history insults such as "skunk fucker" created the assumption that all furries were zoophiles, though many abhor zoophilia. In discussion about zoophilia from Dec 15, 2004, user Cephalophage compared homophobia to disliking zoophilia. 
Despite the presence of some furries on alt.fan.furry being in favor of zoophilia or defending it, others were loudly against zoophilia, such as user Michael Hirtes saying in 2003: "Any REAL furry would be in favor of animals being protected from heartless pervert scumbags." Hirtes would continue speaking on zoophilia further in the thread, expressing upset that zoophilia was often compared to homosexuality, an opinion that held real world consequences within politics.Keeping track of zoophiles, alt.fan.furry. Jul 16, 2003 (Accessed 4/10/2022)
===Burned Fur===
Burned Fur, a furry movement that started in 1998, was not well received on alt.fan.furry. Though Burned Fur held many beliefs that did align with other furries, such as being against zoophilia and speaking out against furry hate, they were also heavily criticized for comments made by some of their members, as well as for considering kinks like plushophilia to be lumped in with zoophilia. See more under Burned Furs, Criticism and Controversies. 
Below is an early discussion of Burned Fur from alt.fan.furry in 1999.Burned Fur - My what an ugly face you have (1999), Accessed 4/29/2022 ([Archived https://web.archive.org/web/20210617162033/https://groups.google.com/g/alt.fan.furry/c/PZ9-eDtYnAU/m/GIwtn8amNrUJ])
===Flamewars===
There are multiple references to flamewars occurring on alt.fan.furry, usually in reference to either alt.furry.lifestyle or Burned Fur. Political and religious discussions on the newsgroup may have also caused some tension between furries who disagreed with one another.
The below discussion from 2004 had members seeking to figure out whether alt.furry.lifestyle members flammed alt.fan.furry, or whether they peacefully moved to their new newsgroup amicably.Crossposting to alt.lifestyle.furry, alt.fan.furry, May 9, 2004. (Accessed 4/29/2022)
In 2003, a member stated that while furries should be able to freely discuss what they'd like in the newsgroup, political and religious topics tended to cause flaming.
An example of Burned Fur and politics being used as a spring board for flaming or trolling is a 2002 thread started by a self acclaimed Burned Fur member saying that, after a recent political turn, pedophiles were to be accepted by Burned Fur. Per Poe's Law, it's unclear if this was sarcasm or satire. However, the topic spurred a long discussion. Some members talked about the legality of drawing underaged furries, and how one would even verify the age of the drawn furry, while others discussed or argued about recent politics. Some comments from the thread are below.Pedophiles welcome!!, alt.fan.furry. Apr 16, 2002 (Accessed 4/29/2022) 
==Outside Criticism and Opinions==
alt.fan.furry was discussed outside of the newsgroup by others, including other newsgroups. In 1999, StukaFox posted on alt.fan.furry.politics "10 Rules of Hypocrisy on Alt.Fan.Furry," a meta piece criticizing some of the occurrences on AFF. Though titled as if the list only had ten items, many of the items had subitems, elongating the list considerably. Most of the grievances were related to flaming. The main ten items are listed verbatim below, and the alt.fan.furry.politics thread should be viewed for all items and their subitems.[alt.fan.furry 10 Rules of Hypocrisy on Alt.Fan.Furry], alt.fan.furry.politics. Jun 7, 1999 (Accessed 4/29/2022)
*1) Any thread that questions the state of Furry is a troll.
*2) Those critical of Furry shall be held to a different standard than those who are not critical of Furry.
*3) Any post critical of Furry is a flame.
*4) Flames must be rotundly denounced as being bad for all.
*5) Once a post is proclaimed a "flame" or a "troll", all content of that post may be ignored, regardless of validity. Remember, style is everything and substance is meaningless.
*6) If a valid point is raised by a person deemed a Flamer, that point must be immediatley dismissed by the Apologists with a quick ad hominem post.
*7) All critical persons must have IMMACULATE behavior, since they are all representatives of whatever movement they add to their .sig (whether aforemention movement is stated or not).
*8) Thou shalt not swear (if thou art making critical posts)
*9) If you, in the course of trying to do a good deed for someone in Furry, get bent over and fucked by that same person, it's your own goddamn fault for trying to help someone in the first place.
*10) CENSORSHIP IS BAD!!
===Meta===
*[alt.fan.furry] 10 Rules of Hypocrisy on Alt.Fan.Furry (1999)
*To moderate or not to moderate- alt.fan.furry is torn apart by a modest proposal. (2017)
*The True Story of America's Most Misunderstood Subculture, Joe Strike-- References AFF multiple times (2017)
*PeterCat's Furry InfoPage-- references AFF (2010)
==References==
Category:FurryCategory:1990 Newsgroups
Category:1990s Newsgroups
Category:2000s Newsgroups
Category:2010s Newsgroups
Category:2020s Newsgroups