Nominations are open now until March 31, 2023. You can nominate people here. Learn more about the GFA here. This year, the GFA admins will be a bit more selective in posting nominees. Two main things to note: 1) The nominee must be alive and active in the furry community; 2) they must have done something more for the community than "be nice" or "make cool art"; that is, it needs to be something that has a tangible effect on furries and/or nonfurries. Thanks.
Bash the Piñata (TransformARTive, Inanimorphs, Furry Flags): Bash has not only been active in our anime con community with their Convention History project (https://www.conhistory.com/) but they have also done a lot of work in researching and doing panels on the history of furry cons. I never realized the connection between both the anime and furry con scenes until Bash brought up at their panel how they both come from the same room parties. On top of that they been active in helping promote LGBT pride and awareness at cons, they been the sole runner behind the Furry Flags booth at cons where they mainly do furry cons but when they vend at anime cons like Anime Central and MAGFest it's always nice to see queer furry art represented. They also been active in the transformation fandom, where they done history panels on the topic at both anime and furry cons. And in the last year it's been a joy to see their new Bash the Piñata fursuit at all cons. I had the pleasure of being their handler at MFF last year, but they also wore their suit to San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con, and even won a best costume ribbon at Chicon Worldcon (the place where the first con costume contest was ever held in the 1940's) and I would say they were a great representative for the furry community at these other events. So I bet if they have been so great at non-furry cons, they must have made a good impact on a few people in the furry con scene.
Brett Chise: Chise has been a major spotlight in the community since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. As a vaccine researcher, she has regularly fought against disinformation on major social medial outlets like twitter. She has been mentioned in several popular news outlets as well as "the furry researcher who's fighting COVID." (https://www.inverse.com/input/features/furry-scientist-vaccines-chise-covid-19-twitter-controversy or https://www.logically.ai/articles/talking-mrna-vaccines-with-a-furry-microbiologist). She is an incredibly nice person who is a perfect figurehead of the furry community. (Note: This is the third time Chise has been nominated.) --Nomination 2: Chise has tirelessly fought against anti-masking and antivax propaganda, working to make the science behind protecting one and all from Covid accessible and understandable to the layman. I believe that without Chise's efforts, furcons would be (even more) lax with their Covid guidelines. when we have such a large population of immunocompromised people in our fanbase, the voice of someone like Chise to sway the powers that be into action that protects us all cannot be discounted!
Cendyne Naga: They run a furry tech blog which helps further the presence of the fandom in cryptography(not currency) and helps expose outside individuals to a bright side of the fandom.
Equinoxx: Steven Webb has been buying commissions from several beginning furry artists like Castorplayz, who has been struggling with many personal issues. Steven has been sending funds to help other furries in various parts of the world with food, medical needs, and even art supplies and home items. Steven has given funds to other struggling furs here in America, the Philippines, and Johannesburg, South Africa. He always gives wonderful reviews to artists, most of whom really need the recognition and visibility. And I believe he has been desiring to be a welcoming fur at conventions and helping furs by themselves not feel alone at conventions, something we plan on trying at Denfur this year. I unfortunately don't have all the names of those he's been helping, but I do know that there are or have been probably a dozen or more people. Steven doesn't ask for anything more than maybe a thank you for what he does, and I believe he deserves recognition for it.
Fang, Feather, and Fin (Tofte, Chipper, and Gale): Tofte (Christopher Polt) is a university professor at Boston College who teaches a furry class called Beast Literature. He also is working to preserve furry history with the help of his university on a website called fangfeatherandfin.com. He has tons of donated items of various comics (sfw and nsfw), leaflets from various cons, conbooks, etc. (Second nomination text) The folks behind "Fang, Feather, and Fin"—namely Tofte, Chipper, and Gale—are pursuing the massive undertaking of archiving the history of the furry fandom. They are actively gathering every bit of furry media they can get their hands on, spanning across decades and all forms of media, including magazines, artwork, books, comics, and regularly published blog posts mapping out the fascinating history of furries and everything that's ever brought us together. With so much furry history being originally recorded on old websites and obscure printed materials that are quickly being lost or forgotten over time, they are performing a massive service for the future of the fandom. We are all enriched by remembering the unique and beautiful past that had made the furry fandom and community what it is today, and efforts like theirs will preserve that history for future generations of furries!
Jeff Snider (Scruffywoofie): In 2019 Scruffywoofie founded the 501(c)(3) no kill rescue group called The Cathouse Rescue, Inc., in Boiling Springs Lake, North Carolina. He brings joy to so many people in his community that know him as Scruffy, and he is generally great guy with huge heart. In addition to the cat rescue, Scruffywoofie runs Cape Fear Furries, a group of 140 furries in North Carolina. According to Scruffywoofie (who did not nominate himself, FYI), "Our diversity is like everybody else's. However the really shy ones, or the ones with social interaction issues we work with to coax them out of their shells and then help them to close that door. We have guys who are now the greatest dancers at our meets, jump at the chance to go with me to visit our furs at work and home. And go with me to visit at our two local hospitals and retirement homes. I'm just glad that I have a fursuit head on cause I can't hide my emotions. My guys are my family and closest friends and I treat them as such. I absolutely adore being a furry. It's the best way to let me be me AND I can make many other people happy along the way. I do have a 501(c)(3) no kill cat shelter that I adore, but the main thing that brings me the most joy are the children's charities that we support. We do birthday parties in suit and take custom cakes from our favorite local baker. Most of this is covered by the three jobs that I have and help from my handler Pattiann The Furry Guard Mother."
Kite’s Windswept Wanderings: Kite is an amazing content creator who has been filming every furry convention he's been at, basically showing me how amazing these cons are from his perspective. His streams light up my day; he does so much to help other express themselves in this fandom. He is the best boy for this award. --They document many furcons and fursuit parades/walks on YouTube and got me interested in the furry fandom. --They should get it for archiving the fandom's conventions with atmospheric footage of nearly every con throughout the year. --This furry brings awareness to the furry community by recording conventions and events. His high-tech gear allows him to film not only in 4k but also in 360 VR as well. Pictures and videos are crisp and clear, and he does wonderful work. He brought me further into the furry fandom by showing that there are no limits to what you can do. His message to me is to not hold anything back and just be myself. This person does excellent work in documenting furry related content. Please check his work out on YouTube. --I believe they deserve the award because they are always capturing the beautiful moments at furry conventions, and I have personally viewed their videos when considering what convention I would like to go to! Kite's videos has given me a genuine feel for the convention so I can get an idea of whether it would be for me or not and it's been so helpful! I also appreciate they take video of not just full fursuiters but those out of suit or ones that just have a fursuit head, which I like because those attendees, I feel, don't get that much attention in con videos! He shows the fandom as a whole and I really admire that! A good fur indeed!
Mango Peach the axollama (formerly Hunter Fusky): For their volunteer work building homes and also playgrounds for disabled children, as well as donating plasma and rescuing a victim of abuse who was in a life-threatening situation. Mango is one of the kindest furries I know. He always goes out of his way to help others even if it means his own happiness. He just moved to Kentucky and is trying to help others out there. He’s been going through some terrible times for example his mother just got diagnosed with cancer and he’s going to be loosing his new apartment. If anyone deserves this award it’d definitely be him. (GFA admin note: this is the fourth time Mango Peach has been nominated!) --Mango always strives to help others when needed; even when he himself faces hardships, he never wavers and continues to make people smile and laugh. Mango is a very devoted friend and has helped some of his closest friends when we've been depressed and down...
Matrices: Matrices has been sharing info and tutorials on how to build fursuits for over a decade. I think it is partly because of her that there are so many fursuits and makers in the fandom today - many have learned from the knowledge she freely shares.
Moms of Furries: Carrie and Joelle are two moms who, when finding out that their kids wanted to go to a furry convention, dived head first into the fandom to learn more about it and support their kids. Since then they've gone on to support minors in the fandom in general and created wholesome, safe spaces where teens can be themselves and be creative, and not have to worry about the typically more adult sides of the fandom. They've run panels for young furs at conventions, created videos to teach furs of all ages of the ins and out of the fandom, and most recently have wrote articles pushing back against some of the more common urban myths about furries: https://www.insider.com/moms-of-furries-share-the-truth-about-their-furry-kids-2022-12
In a fandom predominately of adults, minors can often fall by the wayside. This results in minors ending up in spaces where they don't belong, and risking them getting hurt. But by creating places for younger furries to belong, the Moms of Furries are doing great things to help them and to keep them safe. For these reasons, I nominate the Moms of Furries for the good furry award!
Rusty Bourne: Rusty has been more selfless and kind to those in need. He's volunteered at MFF every year to help the con out. He's helped furs physically and emotionally even when it was more than he could handle he still kept helping. I sometimes ask the guy to get a vacation but he insists to keep helping others before he will. Rusty Bourne never asks for anything back except for everyone to just love each other and keep spreading love. If anyone deserves it. It's him.
Shrapnel Vargr: Runs a YouTube channel where he talks about things in the fandom. Also takes the time to explain the good, the bad and the ugly while also taking pains to advise how to avoid the bad and the ugly.
Star Raccoon: Star is the absolute funniest and best furry in the fandom. He’s quick witted and funny but most of all generous and giving. He volunteers time to charity, helps produce other people videos on YouTube. He gives panel discussions at cons on proper etiquette and how to be a handler for furs then donates his time to being a handler for others. He even gave a friend of mine free tickets to Disney world at Megaplex so he could propose to his boyfriend. Please. He’s the good furry of 2023!! TheGothiccCinnibon: Ashe, better known as TheGothiccCinnibon or Misstis mysticals has gone above and beyond in the cosplay and furry community! Time and time again I've witnessed her cover bills for the less fortunate, help design and create fursuits for those with financial difficulties and even when she became disabled from a motorcycle accident. She still pushes through jumping around and bringing smiles to everyone she meets. Overall she gives any surplus she can after medical bills and doesn't let anything stop her.
VancouFUR staff (group nominees):They embody all that is good in the community. This is for the Syrian Refugees that had to flee the country and had no place to go other than the hotel the con was at. The Furries opened their arms to give those poor kids some happiness and show just how big of a heart furries tend to have. Here is just one of the new articles about it. They are the kinds of furs we should strive to be like. https://mashable.com/article/syrian-refugees-get-warm-canadian-welcome-at-furry-convention-in-vancouver.
Volf:Year in and out Volf does so much charity work in suit. He was GOH at ConFuzzled for it, he is so well known for it. Volf goes above and beyond to arrange charity work not only for himself and his partner to do but for groups of us as well, and he is endlessly giving. When I think charity, I think Volf.