He's Hesitant about Running for Public Office Because He's a Furry

Dear Papabear,

I am currently a politics student with aspirations to enter the world of politics later on in life, either as a councilor or as a Member of Parliament. However, I am concerned that, as a politician, my private life would come under much scrutiny by the media, including my identification as a furry. Based on your doubtless rich experience and opinion, do you think that it would be wise for a furry like me, whom nobody outside of the furry community knows that I am, to go into politics?

Many Thanks and Kind Regards,

Dai

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Dear Dai,

While I’m more familiar with politics in the U.S. than in Britain, it’s pretty much a cutthroat occupation, wherever in the world you may go. You can be assured that, should you run for public office, your private life will be scrutinized with a tweezer and microscope. And if any flaws—real or perceived—are discovered by an opponent, they will be used against you. It seems that these days more elections are won based on attacking one’s opponent, rather than running on one’s own merits.

Being a furry is not a flaw, of course, but you can imagine how it will go for you once someone discovers a site such as e621.net and calls you a furvert.

But, many people of various minorities have run for office, been attacked, and won. Public office used to be the domain solely of white, straight (or apparently straight) men. Britain has been a bit ahead of America in terms of accepting minorities into their government. In 1790, Robert Jenkinson (an Anglo-Indian) was elected to Parliament. And there have been quite a few minorities in Parliament since then.

It took longer for a gay man to be accepted in Parliament. Being gay in the UK was illegal until the Sexual Offenses Act of 1967, as you probably know (think of poor victims of this law, ranging from Oscar Wilde to Alan Turing). Since then, LGBT people have slowly been gaining ground and offices.

Now, if LGBT people—who were once considered deviants to a criminal degree—can gain acceptance, I believe a furry can, too (and more easily in Britain than in America, where half the population still thinks the Confederacy should have won). Really, it depends upon you and how willing you are to stick up for your furriness. You could, I suppose, hide or abandon that side of you in favor of your political career, or you could not hide it at all and assert your right to be who you are, including the best politician you can be.

There is some good news, too, concerning furries and acceptance. As with the LGBT community, there has been a slow turning around of public opinion about furries that is represented in articles such as this one from the Huffington Post.

I can’t make that decision for you about your career, but I would say that if you have a passion for public service and you abandoned it out of fear of your being a furry, then that would be quite a shame and a loss to your community. I, for one, would be very proud of you if you put aside your fears and won even a small, local election; that could be the start of an amazing future for you.

Good Luck,

Papabear