Activist not letting a political cause to go to waste, board at Megaplex go 18+

The Rolling Strone, is not known for the accurate journalism, think of their breaking story about so call Nazis in the furry fandom. The Rolling Strone has done it again:

I see the Rolling Stones’ report as a Straw Man

First, I want to examine Megaplexes action, but I need to lay out background to what will say. The first item is Megaplex’s shuffling the board with the ouster of Scooby, Stich and Megaplex founder, Yappy Fox. Yappy responds to Megaplex move as:

“Tonight, to make the decision. Should I stay or should I go. Walk away from 1/2 of my life’s passion. Fandom had changed, and the hate against the older generation is very apparent.”

and

“It is probably documented that 3 of us resigned, but we did that while there was a motion on the floor to vote for a hostile takeover.”

Is the new board, young and political and radical as the tendency of the younger work generation who are more willing to co-op institution to conform their political cause?

The second item is that in the past Megaplex had a code of conduct including a section on minors attending the convention. I would believe past policies of years ago would keep Megaplex from being liable under the new law.

From the 2021 code of conduct:

Minors

Anyone 16 or older and able to present a valid government-issued photo identification (“ID”) may register to attend any general audience events.

Anyone between 13 and 17 years of age, excluding anyone between 16 and 17 with ID, will require a parent or legal guardian (“parent”) present at registration on site. Parents must have a valid ID and will be responsible for anyone in their care. (You must have your own parent or legal guardian with you to receive your badge.)

Anyone 12 and under is admitted free and should not register online but must be accompanied at all times either by a parent or a chaperone. Chaperones must be designated by the parent at the time of registration.

Anyone under 18 may not enter areas designated for mature audiences.

Attendees under 16 years of age may not volunteer at the convention per Florida’s child labor laws.

Finally in the 2022 schedule, an 18+ panne was held during the day. In addition, I could not find a copy of the 2022 Code of Conduct. 2.

Megaplex announcement reeks of pushing politics into fandom (i.e., trying to pull a Mickey as in Disney). It is my opinion that the Megaplex board, post board shuffle, decided to engage in a political activism than just announce we changing to an 18+ convention. This move would be convenient to Megaplex by allowing them to deflect criticism of changing a family friendly convention by saying it’s Santo’s fault.

Not a Rolling Stone:

From the Rolling Stone Article

“The fact that the furry organizers felt pressured to bar children from the convention is yet another example of how it has been seen as an attack on LGBTQ rights. (The ACLU referred to it as “a blatant attempt to erase drag performers and silence the LGBTQ+ community.”) The furry fandom   overwhelmingly skews LGBTQ, with nearly 80 percent of furries self-identifying as such, according to surveys of the fandom. “Furry has become synonymous with LGBTQ, since there is such a large intersection of communities,” says Joelle, one of the founders of Moms of Furries, an organization supporting kid furries and their parents. (Joelle and her cofounder, Carrie, requested their last names be withheld for safety reasons; they both have children in the fandom who are also queer.) “Furries feel connected to what they see as persecution of the queer community.”

Furries Now Have Serious Beef With Ron DeSantis

This is where the straw man starts. The key is the statement “Furry has become synonymous with LGBTQ, since there is such a large intersection of communities,” The statement refers to ideological politics of identity. intersectionality attempts to define a person not as in individual and the content of their character but only as member of groups biased on class, ethnicity, rase sex, and orientation. These groups are binarily defined as oppressed or privilege/oppressor. Ones value in an intersectionality system is based on how many oppressed one is defined by. For example, African America-Women-Lesbian would have high value because of Being a Woman, African American, LGBT but a White Woman Lesbian will have a lesser value because she is LGBT and a Woman but also White which is a privileged/ oppressor group. Another Aspect is intersection alliances implied by other oppressed groups and activists. One classed as LGBT will find itself intersecting with Palestinian Rights, even though Palestinian Muslims would kill a person if they were LGBT.

This gets back to the statement Joelle by Furry has become synonymous with LGBTQ, since there is such a large intersection of communities. I can point out multiple fallacies with intersection. The premise of intersection is a generalization: not all LGBT are furries and not all furries are LGBT. Also, furry fandom is an interest and hobby not and political identity. Further, the claim of intersection of communities would include a small minority who think is ok to expose children to adult material and actions. Joelle’s statement and Megaplexes action would contradict many of us who want to present and fight against the misconception that the furry fandom is a sexual fetish. Filially is Joelle’s statement and political support via intersection is saying she support an alliance with those who want minors access to explicit adult performance and events? If the latter, I will say the Moms of Furs are contradicting their mission to provide a safe space for young furries to express themselves in the furry fandom.

I said this before Furry has LGBTQ elements, but Furry Fandom is not exclusively LGBT because Furry is not about what check box one can mark in the grand scheme of intersectional identity, but true inclusion in the furry fandom come because regardless of one sex, race religion, age, politics, and orientation, we are fans of anthropomorphic animals in art, literature and fursuiting.