A few months ago, I had the fortune of attending Nomadicon in Nashville. Not only was it my first three-day furry convention, but it was also my first time visiting the state of Tennessee. While I was excited, I was also nervous for a number of reasons: It was my first time flying alone, I might not get along with the people I was rooming with, and most prominently, I was a non-heterosexual heading to the Bible Belt.

Fortunately, most of my fears were unfounded. The flights to and from Nashville were unproblematic. The couple I was rooming with were a delight to be around. The panels were entertaining. I got to meet a lot of friends I had only prior spoken to online. And best of all, the con provided a safe place for all the gay, bi, pan, trans, and non-binary members of the fandom. Nobody experienced any harassment for being LGBTQIA+ or a furry… Well, I didn't.

The truth is, it wasn't perfect. When eating at the hotel restaurant, we heard a few non-convention goers making comments about how weird the convention was. There was also an incident where a staff member made an uncomfortable comment about my non-binary roommate's long hair. Later, we found out that a Christian "prank" YouTuber was harassing attendees outside the hotel until security forced them to leave.

See, as a member of the LGBTQIA+, I'm considerably lucky. My parents accept me as I am. I have a supportive network of friends, most of which are part of the alphabet mafia themselves. I've rarely faced any harassment about my sexuality that couldn't be solved by logging off the internet and doing something else.

That being said, I'm not deaf to what happens to others in the community. I have friends who've told me horror stories about their homophobic and abusive parents. I am well aware of the transphobic laws that are being passed in Florida and Tennessee. Hell, my roommate didn't pack their more feminine clothes specifically because of the anti-drag legislation in Tennessee.

Now, some might say that this doesn't affect me as a cisgender male that doesn't do drag, but I call bullshit. We need to stand with our trans and non-binary friends, not just because it's the right thing to do, but once bigots like Governors Bill Lee and Ron DeSantis are done silencing the trans and non-binary community, they'll go after the rest of the LGBTQIA+ afterwards. After all, if the idiots in charge of this country have no qualms about endangering half of our population by overturning Roe v. Wade, then they'll have no issue taking away our protection from workplace discrimination or our right to marry.

So I say Perci and Andrew have the right idea. Sure, neither of them are trans, but they're not afraid to call bullshit on bigots. Hence, why they decided to dress the way they did while visiting Music City. Knowing their surroundings, it wasn't a matter of if, but when they were gonna get in trouble. Regardless, they did it anyway, because they make their resolve known and protest what they damn well know is unfair, as should we all. Sure, we may ruffle a few feathers, but sometimes, that's what it takes if you want to soar.

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So, originally I wanted to have this piece out for Pride Month. Unfortunately, Flyper encountered a whole list of unavoidable IRL issues that ended up putting her work on hold. Nonetheless, she did amazing work with the prompt I gave her, and I encourage all of you to check out her work, maybe even commission her if you’re looking for art.

In the meantime, stay safe and stay strong, my friends.