An upcoming "furry" convention in Florida will restrict its attendees to adults over 18 in response to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis' law prohibiting children from attending "adult live entertainment."
Megaplex, an Orlando-based convention dedicated to "people who enjoy dressing up as or making art of anthropomorphized creatures," originally released a statement regarding their decision on Wednesday.
"Many have raised concerns about recent changes in Florida legislation. After reviewing Florida SB 1438 it has been decided that for legal reasons and protection of our attendees, our venue, and the overall convention, Megaplex 2023 attendees must be 18 years of age at the time of registration pickup," the statement read.
The Protection of Children Act (SB 1438) specifically prohibits a person from "knowingly admitting a child to an adult live performance." An adult live performance is defined as "any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities."
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The Rolling Stone blasted the news from Megaplex, attacking DeSantis for "sucking the pleasure" out of "joys" like the furry convention.
"Florida Gov. and GOP presidential nominee Ron DeSantis has successfully sucked the pleasure out of many of life’s little joys, from drag brunches to Disney adult TikTok. And thanks to the passage of SB 1438, or the Protection of Children Act, DeSantis may now be bringing the ax down on furries," senior writer E.J. Dickson wrote.
Though the furry organization judged their own convention to be potentially violating a law meant to prevent the sexualization of children, Dickson dismissed the connection as part of "pervasive misconceptions" that furries are "inherently sexual."
He continued, "While it is true that there is a segment of furrydom that does treat it as a kink, it is not a representation of the wider community, and many furries do not view their interest in anthropomorphized creatures as sexual at all. Though many conventions do cater to the NSFW aspects of the furry fandom, they typically save such programming for later at night to ensure the rest of the con is family-friendly, or cordon off adult vendors so they are not in full view of other attendees."
The Rolling Stone then quoted "a transgender furry and the owner of furry adult toy company Lycantasy" who agreed with Megaplex's response to the law but won't go to this year's convention because "I don’t want to end up in a confrontation, or worse, jail or dead, for just going to the bathroom in Florida."
Dickson continued to defend the "furry fandom" as a safe haven for children, arguing that the community attracts those who are "marginalized."
"Many furries are marginalized in some way: In addition to many identifying as LGBTQ, a sizeable percentage of furries are also neurodivergent. As a result, they tend to view the community as a safe haven of sorts. Over the past few years, children have increasingly been gravitating toward the fandom for this reason, as Rolling Stone has previously reported," she wrote.
Dickson continued, "The rise of furry influencers on platforms like TikTok has led to the fandom becoming increasingly popular among young people, with the Pittsburgh-based conference Anthrocon reporting that 16 percent of its attendees in 2019 were under the age of 19."
Dickson interviewed the founders of Moms of Furries, one of whom said it was "'heartbreaking' to think of young furries not having a space to connect" due to the convention's new age restriction.
Despite this year's age policy, Megaplex remained optimistic that circumstances could change in 2024.
"It is our hope that this change is temporary and that we can welcome members of all ages back next year," Megaplex’s statement read. "This decision has been a difficult one, but Megaplex has not forgotten about or abandoned our younger fandom members and is looking into options for events and activities to include all age ranges and their families."
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According to the 2022 Megaplex schedule online, many events marked for those 18 and older took place at night. Others marked for adults or a general audience held during the afternoons included "How to Be Queer," "Babyfur/Kidfur Meet Up" and "Transgender Furs Meet & Greet."
The convention is expected to be held Sept. 15-17 at Hyatt Regency in Orlando. Megaplex did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
