https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdpen/mississippi-furry-book-banning
"Last week, a Mississippi mayor tried to strong-arm a local library into
banning some books. The result was swift, and in retrospect, entirely
predictable: A group of furries got on Twitter to do something about it.
The first tweet came on Friday, from Soatok, a furry with an avatar of a
sparkling, blue, wolf-like creature: “We interrupt your usual program of
shitposts, memes, and cute fursuits to bring you something with real-world
impact.”
Soatok, who asked to be identified by his online handle, was referring to the
news that Mayor Gene McGee of Ridgeland, Mississippi, was withholding $110,000
of funding from the Madison Country Library System. Library officials told the
Mississippi Free Press that the mayor had demanded they purge their collection
of LGBTQ+ books, which he called “homosexual materials,” before his office
would release the money.
Tonja Johnson, the executive director of the county’s library system, told VICE
News that the withholding of this money even temporarily would have a
“significant impact on services that are available” and potentially affect
their ability to pay library employees.
This is where the furries come in. Soatak is a security engineer at a large
tech company, but he’s also a furry—a member of a community that’s mostly known
for being really into anthropomorphic fantasy animals and dressing up in
fursuits at conventions.
That last part probably seems completely ancillary to the very serious matter
at hand (the banning of books), but it’s not.
In an attempt to assist this Mississippi library, the furry community has
launched a fundraising frenzy over the past few days, to the tune of tens of
thousands of dollars. While book banning, or attempted book banning, has
recently become something of a theme around the country, this small-town mayor
seems to have inadvertently picked a fight with the wrong crowd."
Via Esther Schindler.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
