Like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attempt a presidential run, he still finds time for his ongoing hobby of angering different communities with his legislation and his bad views on people and things. Now, it looks like she 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 restriction in response to Florida SB 1438, or the Child Protection Act which makes “admitting knowingly a child to a live performance by an adult” a first degree misdemeanor. The legislation was enacted primarily to target drag performers because right-wing evangelicals have attributed drag performance to sexual display, although that does not is inherently true.But due to its vague wording, it makes sense that a furry convention would be naturally cautious, because ignorant people also see furries as inherently perverted.
As Rolling Stone notes in his situation report, while furries are not inherently sexual, there are subsections of these communities that do engage in sexual content related to dressing up. Megaplex has been an event for the ages up to this point, but it seems the event organizers are trying to keep their attendees and staff safe now that Florida law could be used as a weapon against them.
“This decision has been a difficult one,” event organizers said in a statement on Twitter. “But Megaplex has not forgotten or abandoned our younger fandom members and is looking at options for events and activities that include all age ranges and their families.”
Generally speaking, DeSantis is on many Florida’s shit list for his support of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, such as the colloquially known “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which prevents discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in schools. This affects the furry community because swaths of them identify as queer in one way or another.
His insistence on fanatical nonsense has also resulted in a ongoing dispute between the president-wannabe and the megalithic corporation Disney, which called for the bill’s repeal last year. According to reports, so far the feud cost the guy a billion dollar development plan.
