I took part in an interview on a costume forum not related to furry. Since I don't hide the fact I'm a furry they has lots of questions regarding furries. I did my best to explain furry to a community of geeks. Really, when you think about it, cosplayers and furries have a lot in common... but it's hard to break those barriers. Reading over what I explained, I think I did a okay job. I thought I would post what I wrote, maybe it will help you talk furry with the mundane:

Furries get a bad rep thanks to sensationalist media. Articles and TV spots like Vanity Faire, MTV, My Strange Addiction, and Tyra Banks are notorious for making furries look like freaky sexual deviants. There are lots of fandoms and fetishes, but Furries seem to get a special place in the geek hierarchy that lables them as weird perverts – no one asks a Klingon Cosplayer if he goes home at night and does the Klingon mating ritual. It’s possible this is because cute toony animals suggest furries must be pedophiles, or the fact we love animals must also mean we also LOVE animals. Because of the bad relationship furries have with the media we often choose to politely decline when offered the opportunity to talk on TV or for a magazine, but that leads to the challenge of – if you refuse to speak, that must mean you have something to hide. Some furries even go on TV to directly challenge these misconceptions, however TV and magazine editors are very good at asking a question in a certain way or implying things which can suggest something more even when it wasn’t intended.
I’ll see if I can clear the air a little regarding furries and maybe clear up some misconceptions....

-What the heck is a furry?
There is a joke among furries that if you ask 100 different people that question you will get 100 different answers, so I’ll try to be as basic as possible.
Furries are people who have an interest in anthropomorphics. The term Anthropomorphics is defined as attributing human features to something that is not human (this can be as small as giving an animal the power of speech, or as broad as allowing an animal to walk around on 2 legs and wear clothes and live in a house etc). Anthropomorphics is not limited to animals either, ANYTHING that has been given human features can be considered anthropomorphic; so a talking tree or toaster oven would also apply.
Furries often pick a Fursona while participating in the fandom. This is an avatar that they use to represent themselves in the furry fandom. Often at a furry convention people will ask your name, then ask “what are you?” They want to know if you are a panther or a dragon or a mouse or a german shepherd or whatever. Fursonas are highly personalized, they are often chosen based on a person’s favorite animal or combination of animals, some are chosen based on a spiritual connection, and often colors are determined by favorite colors. Me? I’m a green and purple parasaurolophus (it’s a duck billed dinosaur). I chose it because I have always loved paleontology and I love cows, so I picked a prehistoric cow.
We use the term “furry” because most furries choose mammals as their fursonas, however there are lots of scalie and feathered furries as well.
Aside from the Anthropromorphic baseline definition of furries, the term and branch out the a wide variety of interests. Some people are furries because they love furry art, some feel a spiritual connection to a specific animal, some think they are an animal trapped in human skin, some collect stuffed toys and some like to perform (like me) in animal costumes. You certainly don’t have to love ALL of the things to be a furry, but you’re bound to love one thing.

-Do all furries have fursuits?

TV media suggests all furries dress up in animal costumes, this is not true! Most furries do not have fursuits nor are they interested in owning one. Some furries HATE fursuits. The reputation that all furries dress up in furry costumes comes from TV media. Aside from that darn CSI episode, TV media often chooses to show clips of people in costume because it looks better. If a TV crew went to a furry con and filmed all the normal people dressed in regular clothes it would be boring, so they go out of their way to find the costumed people to film. And of course performers in Fursuit LOVE to perform, so we often ham it up around cameras.

-Do you have sex in those animal costumes?

Personally? No. My husband is not a furry, and I’m just not interested.
Wearing a Fursuit is VERY uncomfortable; imagine putting on your couch and walking around. You are covered in fur and padding, sweating buckets, you can’t hear every well, you have periscope vision and little ventilation.... in the mood yet? Not me! Most professional mascots can only perform for 45 minutes to an hour before they need to take a break... and that’s often just some light physical activity.
Also, fursuits are expensive! My prices are in the mid-low range.... a full Fursuit from me STARTS at $1600. Some makers charge $3000-5000 for a Fursuit. Would you want to ruin an investment of that size?
I am sure there are some people who do have sex in animal costumes, but as far as I am concerned, what happens in the bedroom stays in the bedroom. I don’t want to know about it, and for the love of god I don’t want to hear about it.

-So what DO you do in those animal costumes then?
Like cosplayers, most furries who dress up do so at cons. There are lots of cons all over the world where furries can get together and share what they love. We have variety shows, masquerades, dance competitions, and every con I have ever been to has had a parade where all furries with fursuits can parade through the convention space to show off their suits.
I am often blown away with what people do in costume. There are some AMAZING dancers, some furries can play instruments in costume, and there is a furry in Japan who actually has a whole circus act he does in costume.
Outside of cons, some of us volunteer at various events. I am part of a volunteer group called wild rose critters that goes to fun runs, community centers, car shows and other events to entertain kids. We can be more cuddly and less scary than clowns, and we do so for free (which event coordinators love). Sometimes we arrange get-togethers or photo shoots and walk around in public spaces, but this can be iffy depending on where you live as there are laws regarding full face covering masks in some cities.

It can be hard to show our reputation as interesting and creative and fun people when we constantly have to deal with media looking for a dirty secret to sell. Even if we all try to be on our best behaviour, it just takes one person to ruin it for the rest of us. We all have “that guy”.... every fandom has “that guy”. He’s the guy who looks weird and creepy and makes you feel uncomfortable... he’s the guy who will tell you the nastiest stories just to get a reaction... he’s the guy who doesn’t understand social barriers and how to act in public. Every fandom has one, and he’s always the first one to talk on a TV camera or the first one you meet when you discover a new fandom. Lots of times when I mention furry people will make that face and go “Eh... yeah furries.... I met a furry once, he was really weird.” That was the guy T_T If only you had met some normal furries first.... however normal furries look just like normal people, so you probably wouldn’t have even known.
One of the girls in my book club mentioned that my house didn’t look like what she expected. I asked if she was expecting tiger posters all over the wall and stuffed animals on every surface and costumes displayed all over the house and she went “well... yeah”. Sorry, I keep all my furry stuff in my studio, when I shut the door at the end of the day I am just an average seamstress with a lot of sticky rollers to keep the fluff off my clothes ^_^

Furries do some awesome stuff. We’re all pretty creative people and we’re all pretty open minded. Our conventions always have a charity associated with them (some keep the same charity and others change every year). Thousands of dollars are raised for important funds through generosity of furries things like cat shelters, art galleries, animal preservation groups and even local businesses.

Phew! I hope that helped explain some things.