I don't think that will be the case, behavior rules shouldn't change even if there is an age requirement, if anything they should be enforced even more.
We have 18+ Cons in Europe for two decades now. Its not gotten worse in any way, its just easier for everyone. But its good to have Cons for younger and older people.
you did a fantastic job covering everything here! I haven't gotten to attending an 18+ furry convention yet but the interest is definitely there, mainly to see what the major difference between that and an all-ages convention is like!
Thank you! If I get the chance I'd also like to follow-up this video with the experience of an adult-only convention, I think that context would bring my point home a bit better.
Im half and half on this. I get wanting an adults only space and that kids can sometimes be out of control and annoying, but there are also a lot of young furs who want to attend as well. There is a huge upset here in Florida that megaplex was forced to go 18+ and will now exclude the younger members of the furry fandom when its always been inviting to them. Kids are also very fun to interact with. As a dino masker, not many adults care about my suit cause its “not cool enough” or “not a real fursuit” but kids love it and want pictures with my character. Its gonna feel rather lonely now at cons just being ignored.
I agree. I hope being adults-only isn't the new trend for conventions, I hope instead that ir encourages more varied cons for everyone, both adults and children. It would be massively excluding if every con where to go 18+. Not only is it excluding a massive portion of the fandom being minors, but it also ostracises the adults that aren't interested or are discomforted by nsfw topics.
I think my tone on this would be different if every new convention changed to only allow adults. But a vast majority of cons are still for everyone so younger furries still have a lot of options. However I think Megaplex's situation is uniquely unfortunate since they previously weren't 18+; that transition is a lot more jarring to attendees than starting out as only for adults.
@@youkofoxy The reason megaplex went 18+ is due to the anti-drag bill here in florida and the fear that anything seen as "LGBTQ adult performance" can land you a hefty fine and possibly jail time if minors are around.
I get where you’re coming from. My fursona is a penguin and well non adults furries at cons really care for my fursuit because it’s not “cool looking” or I’m not “popular” so in general I don’t really get a lot of photos with other suiters. Most people in the fandom have been rude to me.
Although I’m only 18, I feel more comfortable with this because I’d rather hang out with people my age, when you are 21+, people who are 26 don’t feel that far away versus if your 18, people who are 22 feel so far off.
For 16 year old me, I lean more towards 18-22. It doesn't really matter if they're anywhere from 15-24, just long as they're actually fun to talk to and decently grounded, I'm more than happy to hang out, so people younger than like 25 still don't seem very far off to me. I just prefer being friends with the youngest of adults more because knowing that I'm able to connect and be friends with adults at a younger age makes me feel a lot more ready for the future than I usually would. Plus, I'm now starting to see how unprepared a lot of adults feel about life too, so knowing that that problem isn't just exclusive to me definitely helps. And of course, adults are just way more reasonable. I don't like to associate with the chaos of average high school teens that people getting into their late 20s, aka most "classic furries", start to have a noticeable distaste towards.
MegaPlex went 21+ last year due to new Florida legislation. I enjoyed the con a lot, but someone posted a YT video of a young girl with a physical handicap in a wheelchair. She was very upset over not being allowed to attend. A bunch of artists pooled their talents and she was presented with an album of artwork of her fursona. It brought tears to my eyes, and I see both sides of the fence. This year MP will still be 21+ and we’ll all have to see how it goes for the future.
As a young fur I'm fine with it just as long as there are enough conventions with no age limit/at 13+ age limit I don't really want to wait 3 more years to experience the most exciting part of the furry fandom
@@FinnThePantheralso, being an ai “artist” myself, I’ve actually been using a sort of code of conduct. Basically, there’s 2 rules, you must not sell it for money, virtual or real, and you must disclose it is ai generated.
My own opinion as a 27 yr old is, some 18-21+ cons sound great. I dont mind younger furs, but with them come a couple issues cause..... well..... I was younger once, and I was a little shit xD From sneaking into room parties for booze, or being around less than.... safe.... furs... I think a couple cons for adults only and then a couple for mix sounds like a good idea. Places where it just makes sense like the one in Las Vegas ect
I like how you take both sides instead of just picking one side and explaining this and that. Cause honestly there really is no right answer, no matter what you do there will always be pros and cons.
Furry conventions started out as adults only room parties in the '80s. So it just makes sense to maintain that tradition. The introduction of younger fans is a more recent product of the 21st century. And luckily the major cons like Antrhocon, MFF, even the MLP cons can cater to that market, while smaller cons like LVFC, FWA and F2 can be a place where all the salt & pepper and grey muzzles can gather.
Very well thought out video. As an older fur, read as Greymuzzle, I’m in total agreement with you. You’ve got my mate and I very interested in LVFC, and we will be going next year.
So, as an Australian fur, this is actually a really interesting dilemma. Our con scene and population is obviously much smaller. After the collapse of our biggest convention pre-Covid (Confurgence) there was only a few cons left and they have all been 18+ bar one, which is still finding its feet. It is fantastic for each con individually that is 18+ but it remains so critical to have cons that dedicate to being a General Audience setting, so that there is a space for everyone in the fandom. That inclusivity is essential to the fandom imo. I think the ideal going forward will be to have a diversity of cons which fill both niches because all spaces are important. At the same time, older furs sure do deserve a space where they can be themselves and free.
I love the idea of having an adult only con, there is tons of kids, im scared of kids, and much rather not to be around them especially when in suit. Id love a con for adults not for the maturity side but honestly the space i feel im able to better relax and not worry about random iffy kids
I'm all for people having different kinds furry cons they can feel comfortable in. All cons in my country are default 18+ (England), so I hope that they eventually create some cons for all-ages here like they have in the US. I'm 22, but I personally feel uncomfortable with NSFW, so I haven't attended any furry conventions in my country for this reason. I really wish to go to a con one day, so I hope we have some more varied cons like the US soon.
@KimuratheCatdragon yep, i was so sad to see the only furry con in Scotland is 18+ :((( NOW IM GONNA HAVE TO SPEND EVEN MORE MONEY TO HANG WITH MY PEOPLE!1!!1!! >:CC
About the age requirement just feels so weird to me, especially for kids in the fandom who just want to feel as invited as everyone else does. I am a minor, which just makes me sad how I might not be able to go to any furry conventions all this time I am in the fandom. On the other side, I do understand that people that are not minors that want the age requirements to be around their age. Because they don’t wanna be around kids and more of people their age, but it still makes me sad that these kids get excluded from these large events. But also, most of the time they could end up misbehaving, which sucks for the people who are not minors that have to deal with misbehaving children.
I personally don't care too much for age requirement at conventions; I am 21 (soon 22!) but typically don't participate in the "adult" activities at cons. BUT it does feel like attendees (my friends, vendors, staff, etc.) have to work around the potential of minors being around. And my friends attending LVFC deemed it a huge success!
I will soon be 18 and have no plans to attend a proper convention until I can financially support myself so I’m not worried about conventions going 18 or 21+ but I feel like it shouldn’t be a universal decision. Some conventions should be for younger people and others for older people. There should be strictly SFW ones and others that are more tolerant of certain things (within reason). Many people want to “keep the fandom weird” so that large companies don’t try to get involved. I can see benefits to this, but making the community more socially accepted would also not be a bad thing. I’ve heard that Pittsburgh has a really welcoming environment towards Anthrocon and other smaller conventions. It is seen there as just a hobby, rather than a lifestyle or something more sinister.
I can definitely see 18/21+ cons sound great, they’ll probably make a lot of people happy and also prevent those crazy people who think furries are all about the bedroom stuff from complaining about their kids being around it, but on the other hand, it definitely upset tons of parents whose kids really like going to events like fur cons. I like the idea of certain cons being ok for a younger audience, or at least have an event or two that all ages can go to, like the parades or block parties.
That's what everyone wants. And that's why cons where adults can enjoy their booze, flirt with other adults on the dance floor etc have their space, and why cons that are accessible to all also have their space. It's no different than any other party. Some are appropriate for all ages, some aren't. Especially with certain conservatives implying that everyone who's gay, trans or furry is a groomer by default, not having to worry about such allegations would be quite nice.
I'm 16 (almost 17) and I don't really see myself as a late teen, but I've needed a friend group for years now and the people I've made friends with in this fandom have all been 18-22, which is clear to me that's the group I prefer. It's been really welcoming and I really love being friends with these people, but since I'm like 1.5 years younger than any of them, it really makes me worry that I'm not gonna be able to fit in for long enough to be on the same page as them. Not saying that I'm super eager to be an adult, I really value my time still being a teenager, but the last thing I want is to lose my best friends from a lack of connection because I was born over a year later than them. This convention rule, even if it's pretty understandable in terms of safety, makes me worried since the positive responses I've seen kinda proves the fact that adults just don't want us teens around, still even calling us "kids" sometimes because of our lack of life experience. I just hope this stigma of teens being immature and annoying doesn't affect people like me who just wanna have more opportunities (like conventions) to bond with the older friends they want to stick around with. Also, I think there should be SAFE 18+ furry conventions that allow 16-17 year olds given they have adult company, and the only sections that are required as 18+ or 21+ are marked as such and guarded the same way any other common furry convention would do so.
I am a furry and 31. I definitely prefer adult only events. However I am also a parent of a kiddo is is wanting to be apart of the community (she is a pre-teen right now) and I wish there were more events like the one i went to when I was her age where the parents could drop their kids off and there were “parent rooms” where they would go chill while I hung out with my friends
as a non furry who knows a couple of them, it actually makes me happy they're taking care of both the adults and the young. People underestimate how much regulations places that are for the family have, there's a reason disneyland is a sugar coated as it gets, it's because they still want to sell to children. Furries just have the adult stuff not that hidden and whilst a lot of the youth also can explore that part of their person, I don't think going stright to where most adults are is a good idea. This is a good movement for everyone, childrne should explore themselves in a safe space and adults should also feel comfortable to express themselves also in a safe space.
Megaplex going 18+ was for a bad reason (The state government being garbage in Florida), but I've seen more people talking positively about the change than negatively. And attendance still blew up from years prior.
Megaplex was put in an unfortunate situation that's a little different than LVFC, but I've also heard that the decision is beginning to grow on people.
@@FinnThePanther Yea, I wouldn't wish it for that reason, but I personally don't mind the event being 18+ I do wish that there were more events that focused on younger furs too, and maybe like ANW be explicitly more focused on families. There are a lot of furries who would love family friendly spaces, and being able to show that furries are not all of the things that the negative media makes us out to be
This alludes to one drawback of age restrictions. Perhaps I have a preternaturally dirty mind, but when I hear "this event is for 18 or over," I tend to interpret that as, "this event is going to make 'Eyes Wide Shut' look tame in comparison." Not the best thing to happen for a fandom that's still trying to convince people that it's not just a cover for people with unusual mating habits.
@@benjaminrobinson3842 The cons here in Europe are all 18+, and they still have pretty strict rules on what is allowed and not allowed in the open con spaces. So everything you see is SFW aside from the actual NSFW events.
i think the trend of younger furries joining the fandom more and adult furries wanting to spend more time in the company of adults to enjoy adult interests without worrying about a minor being exposed is a culmination of changing political views. It is becoming more common these days for people to reject NSFW content, even some adults do it (I am no exception) simply because they just don't want to see that stuff frequently. That, on top of that content being inappropriate for minors and a lot of minors I've met being openly anti-NSFW is creating big increases in attendance at family friendly events but also creating a bigger divide on social appropriateness in the fandom because traditionally fanmade furry content has been sexual. Minors want to enjoy furry wholesomely, meanwhile adults want to enjoy adult interests by being responsible and keeping inappropriate content away from minors. This change is beneficial to safety and enjoyability of furry conventions but I'm slightly worried that the future of the fandom will become age segregated, splitting the culture, and the younger generation's general sex negativity will create tension with people who want to enjoy sex appropriately because the internet is not as inaccessible as conventions are.
I'm a younger furry and I've seen this too. Though I've significantly step back from interacting with the fandom due to things like this. I understand my place as a minor and I see this as a great thing. Though your concerns are valid. I've seen questionable takes (liking furries = zoophilia for example, but by furries themselves) so.. Honestly I'm kinda concerned too
i love the 21+ for some cons i think it should just be the context of the con for age requirements like for lvfc i find it very responsible of the con since its in las vegas a very alcohol heavy area
There is a false equivalency here - purely unintentional, I suspect - that I feel the need to point out. Yes, it's true. After-dark panels have been a thing for the majority of the time furry conventions have existed. And yes, it's true. Night markets - while comparatively new in the fandom - have still existed for years. However, there is something that is not being taken into account here. Panels and markets are fine, but while they are features of conventions, they are not the central theme. They are not the core of why furry conventions exist in the first place. So, why do furry conventions exist in the first place? They are a place to be SOCIAL. Most kids don't give a twist about adult panels. They're generally just not that interested. Most kids don't particularly care about night markets, because there's enough cool stuff in the dealer's den. What kids want at a convention is a sense of BELONGING. They want to feel like they're members of the fandom, like their presence is legitimized by the event. They want to meet other young furries and form friendships, they want to see the cool fursuits, they want to get cool things in the dealer's den that help to show who they are. That's why this is a problem, and is something I sincerely hope doesn't become a trend. LVFC isn't telling kids, "Sorry, you can't participate in this part of the convention." They're telling kids - and not just kids, but anyone under 21 - that "We don't want you around AT ALL." They are sending a message of rejection, and that's exactly what entirely too many younger furs already get in their day-to-day lives. Do I acknowledge that ageism is a problem in our fandom? Absolutely. I'm frequently a victim of it myself, being an older fur who often feels invisible. But the right way to fight ageism is not with more ageism. If anything, younger furs need to connect with older furs. In this way, they benefit from the knowledge and experience we have, they remind us of how dynamic and fun our fandom can be and challenge our preconceived notions, and they help bridge the gaps that divide us. In summary, is this something LVFC has the right to do? Yes. Do I think it's the right thing to do? No. Is this the future of furry conventions? DEAR GOD, I hope not.
I wouldn’t say it’s “ageism” I think that adults just want their own space. Also, LV is a predominantly adult space. As a 17yo I wouldn’t even wanna be running around there 😅 It’s not like ALL cons are turning 18+ either. There are still cons that are for all ages!
I got to agree with some other people in the comments here that I am half and half on this issue. I am a furry, but I mainly go to anime cons, mainly cause it just more my thing, but I think the same ideas could be applied to anime cons as well. On one hand, I do think it is important for adults to have spaces free of minors if they don't want to be around them, and can be free to act how they want (Within reason of course) but at the same time minors deserve to have these spaces as well, and I certainly would have been really sad when I was a teenager if I couldn't go to anime/furry cons just because they were all 18/21+ by default. I personally don't like NSFW stuff or NSFW sides of either the anime/furry fandoms, so I would probably feel very uncomfortable and turned off by an adults only con unless there was separate spaces for SFW and NSFW activities, but at that point, why make it adults only? I feel like a good way to balance this is how my local anime cons have already been handling this (And like you mentioned in the vid) which is having the con being all ages, but then having adults only panels and areas of the con for those people who enjoy it. Since I don't enjoy NSFW stuff, I can just go home by that point in the day, and still have had my fun. But don't get me wrong, I still totally understand the appeal and adults only cons. Most anime cons where I'm from in Canada and ones I've seen in the US are still all ages and I personally haven't heard of an anime con in North America being 18/21+, but it wouldn't surprise me if some anime fans started taking notes from furries and experimenting with 18/21+ cons, especially with the overlap between fans in the anime/furry space. Either way, very well informed vid! I'll be interested to see how cons handle this in the future, and if there might be more adults only anime/furry popping up in NA in the future!
As a minor I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this it’s only the people under 21 who are complaining but I don’t understand why this most likely won’t be a trend
I really think it’s good idea to experiment with age restrictions, it’s not bad thing at all cause. I really think this could be a great way for everyone to get their cake and ice cream too, a lot of older furries would like to hang out with older furries and maybe pass on some wisdom or find friends their age.
For me the furry fandom is for adults. I don't want to interact with minors, NSFW stuff aside I just don't care about interaction with teens or young adults that much. Fuck make a con 25+ and I'd go there over a "all ages" con.
Age restrictions seem like a good idea to me. I wouldn't need to worry about accidentally knocking over some unseen kid while I'm fursuiting. Likewise, no need to pay attention to who is walking by when drawing kinky artwork. If the age restrictions reduce pressure on hotel rooms then that's another benefit!
Although I am on the younger side, 19, I can totally understand why some people in the community strive for this type of age exclusivity. There are cons being planned almost every day and at this point, almost anyone is allowed in. I don't think many people should worry about age restrictions.
As for an adult myself, I approve of this. Less crying babies and unruly children the better. 🙄 I never been to That con specifically but, that’s pretty interesting. I saw this whole conversation going down on Twitter and damn. 😅
Las Vegas is a playground for adults. Making a con there 21+ makes logistics easier. I can see some future cons being adult-only, and as long as the all ages events are still vibrant I don't see the issue.
After ur video and other deep dive I think that there should be cons for all ages, some cons for adults, some cons for the older folks. The fandom is supposed to be about being yourself and what teen doesn’t need to feel that way. I don’t want to go here but especially the queer. Let their be a mix, just like in real life. There’s things for the adults and things there for the kids. Things both can enjoy because in the end we are all human
Having these 21+ cons has long been needed. I used to do anime cons every year or so. And the last few I did go to, I just couldn't get into the vibe. Everything was too family friendly, and the "adult" panels kept getting fewer by the year. And I was only in my late 20's (early 30's now), back then. And every time I went, I'd feel more outta place I truly think that having one or more 21+ events would give new life to many fandoms. It'd give a more relaxed and worry-free experience to regular adult con-goers, and might even encourage people (like me), to get back into it.
Diversity is the spice of life. I think it's important for kids and families to have events that have been created with them in mind, and I think it's important for adults to have spaces just for themselves, too. Las Vegas seems like a perfect place for an adults-only con to me! We shouldn't feel obliged to make everything "kid-friendly" or kid-accessible, but we do need to honor and include our younger members by giving them *some* safe and suitable opportunities to participate here and there.
I think you can have some Furry Con for adults but let balance with general audience cause young Fur our the future to grow with parental permission ... Also we have to avoid ageism on both scale of life..
Up the mínimum age to enter at some Furry conventions have a essential benefit: Don't need to handle some crazy parents. Loads of parents lose their minds when they watch furry behavior for the first time and some of them make awful things... (In Mexico, some cruel parents broke his fursuit's son because they don't like the furry convention that his son went) Furry fandom is getting bigger and bigger, we need conventions and events for (legal) adults only, to avoid future troubles
I love that ANW is great for kids, but being in Seattle myself, I wish there was a second local con that was the flipside of being adults only. Not that I care about the sexual or kink side of things and want to showcase that or see it, but purely for the fact that I don't want to have to constantly censor myself for children being present. I'm old and over 30. If I wanted to be around kids, I'd go visit my niece and nephew.
The same can be said about anime/manga/comic conventions too. We´ve had a growth of new and younger fans since around 2012 (when the Avenger movies became popular and so reading comics/manga became more mainstream (for better or worse ;D)) and some of us older fans wanted at least a little bit more room for NSFW art ect. The only Con who started a NSFW area was the Dokomi in Düsseldorf, who has an entire exibition hall for those things (IDs are getting checked of course ;D), but only since 2019 (I guess). A few Cons picked up on that, but only for a few panels (bc they have smaller convention venues) for adults, but I never visited them. I´m curios what kind of 21+ program did the Las Vegas Con had or was it "just like any other furry con"?
One argument I saw from one person on Twitter that i think is a good thing to discuss is will more cons switching to 18+ continue to enforce the stereotype that the Fandom is all about NSFW stuff? While I can understand the fear, I beleive it's ultimately a good move because it can diversify the spaces that congoers can attend and can help keep people safe because, no joke, some seriously messed up stuff can happen at cons when people aren't careful.
I am just going to leave it at I am not going to these because I do not want the downsides that many adults-only conventions have. (For a very funny but surprisingly true representation, I refer you to Ray Stevens' Shriner's Convention.)
Yeah I like the organizers having the freedom to set up the con as they see fit. I like that there are choices of cons that are adults only/ kink friendly and other cons that are all ages/ family friendly and kink not allowed. If you don’t like the con don’t go and maybe set up your own con as you see fit.
I support the cons or meetups that choose to to 18+/21+, especially considering the potential risk involved when minors might try to sneak into adult areas/activities/parties, or drink or whatever. They may think it's mischievous fun to go hang out with the adults, but it CAN cause serious issues for the con. It's the kind of thing the news media is ready to pounce on. Sometimes adults just want to do adult things, drink adult beverages, laugh at adult humor without having to self-censor. That's why some restaurants have age restrictions, that's why some resorts are adults-only, that's why some people have child-free weddings. It doesn't mean the whole event is NSFW. Cons that want to be all-ages and offer activities for kids (like the Moms of Furries group) are awesome, too. I love that there are events where younger members of the fandom can participate, too.
Furry Retreat has always been 18+ from the beginning almost a decade ago and Wild Nights just became 18+ as of last year. As for the age of con goers for decades there are cons that have had no to very few minors that attended fur cons despite them not being banned at all from attending the con.. Changing a fur con to 18+ will have very little affect at all. The simple reason is its hard for a minor to attend a fur con, the first reason is cost its hard for a minor to pay to attend a fur con as all the costs are very high from transportation to renting a room is not cheap especially for a minor who may not have a job or if they do they make very little every month. The next problem is actually getting guardian permission to attend as very few parents will allow their kids to attend a fur con. At a fur con that has well over a thousand attendees you may at most have a dozen or so minors attending. Cons wont be hurt in the least by denying minors from attending. Then on the fur cons side the legal problems are greatly reduced as minors bring legal issues with them even if they are extremely well behaved. The only people that will be really be affected are furs who have kids of their own where the parents are the ones who want to attend and not necessarily the kids. Now there is a way for furs who are parents with their kids to attend a fur con that bans kids and that is to ghost the con. Go to the hotel where the con is being held and stay in the public areas and not enter in the official con space but to stay in the hotel lobby area. The con wont like it but they have no say in the matter as its public space, If they want you kicked out they will have to get the hotel manager to kick you out and unless you are creating a disturbance for the hotel staff and not the con staff the hotel manager wont do that.
As a fur who just turned 18, seeing cons be pushed to 21 feels more and more like I’m being kept from joining events. It’s incredibly frustrating, and to see this to happen to more conventions, especially smaller conventions in areas where we don’t have multiple events a year really sucks. I don’t like this trend, specifically because it feels like all the older furs are forgetting what it’s like to be a young furry, weird and awkward, desperate for an outlet to express themselves.
Even though I'm 20 and am about to turn 21, I kind of just want 18+ at all cons ngl. Like I already can't get drunk yet, why am i being gate kept out of cons too?
I assume it's liability. The people running it likely have a legal responsibility to ensure no underage drinking happens, and that's incredibly hard when lots of people are wearing face coverings. If it's a no alcohol venue, there's of course no problem with 18 year olds. And in countries where the drinking age is 18, that whole issue wouldn't exist.
I am in my early 20’s and I do think an 18+ only con would good because the 18+ stuff could stay in that specific con to 18+ people. I also do think not all cons should be 18+ only because there is also younger furry and the furry fandom doesn’t revolve around 18+ content.
Even tho I never attended a furcon, and you guys might say, "You have no right to say it if you haven't attended one yet". So, if you guys don't like the little kids, what about a furcon that is 13+/16+ instead. Adults only cons is fine, but please don't make it the majority of all cons, so young furries are welcomed
As a minor fur, I totally agree that some cons should have 18+/21+ etc, but also I think if I were to go to a convention with some inappropriate things I won't care because I've already seen some stuff. But that doesn't matter because adults wanna be adults with no kids and kids wanna have fun and stuff or wanna show their art and design.
Would be great if with all these age restricted cons, they'd have more that weren't. For example if a con went to 21+, they do another one that isn't so those cons double up. Though maybe I just want more cons in general since there's only one that's near me 😅
It would be nice to hang out with other adults during the day time instead of having to wait until the evening for most of the activities. I would love to have a furry brunch or tea time or something. Also a dance party where its not just EDM would be so much fun,I do love the dance parties as they are but a little variety could interesting. I would definitely sit in on a panel about taxes lol. Furry yoga could be a fun activity as well, not a lot of people talk about how important stretching is before suiting as an adult. I think a good way to compromise for a Con that might not want to go exclusively +18 or +21 would be to have two days for all ages and then the other two would be the adult days (since most of the cons seem to be four days long). And by having activities that more adults would enjoy that aren't, you know "adult entertainment" (like the nasty rumours that continue on the internet would have other people believe), might also bring more adults to the fandom that have been scared off by that.
With the amount of younger furs i've seen harassing older furs and telling them to leave the fandom if they're over 30 (in some cases i've seen them suggest 25) this is a true surprise pikachu face moment
I don't see a graymuzzle con ever happening as the biggest age group draw for cons are 18 to 30 year olds. There are few graymuzzles as for the vast majority of people furry is just a fad that they out grow when they finish collage and pursue more adult endeavors. What I would like to see is a fur con that is a week and a half long. It starts say on a Thursday goes though the next entire week and ends on Tuesday on the following week so 13 days long.
I'm all for it. Personally, I'm very tired of the demand to have everything sanitized to the point of where I don't even know what I can and cannot do. For example, I saw a discussion that you can't wear harnesses because kids are around and that's adult bedroom stuff. But, as we all know, there are furries who wear harnesses because sled dogs and draft horses. There's also fashion wear; harnesses are sometimes part of a particular look. What about corsets? Are those too adult? Does that mean collars too? It just gets really frustrating because where is the line? Making it completely adult means less likelihood for that to happen.
I agree that those cons should be at least 18+ but the case of LVFC doesn't really mean anything, let me elaborate. If you take the donations of each year and divide it by the number of attendees, you only get a 0.5$/attendee increase in donations from 2023 to 2024. It's a 13% increase in donations, and I don't think that's significant enough to conclude that there is a connection between the age of the attendees and the donations. The increase in number of attendees could be due to anything really, all furry cons have a massive increase in attendees in recent years. Or it could just be because some popufur decided to go to this con.
The issue I have is that the only con with age restriction I've seen are only furry con, and I'm scared of that for the only reason that convention may start to be nsfw only instead of sfw. There isn't any problem of sexuality in anime con or video game con but the only conventions that show this issue are the furry con.
Here in Europe the furry cons are 18+ and we don't have any problems with sexuality in the SFW spaces of the con. The NSFW stays in the NSFW events, and the sex going on in private in hotel rooms. It's exactly the way it is supposed to be. No sex in public, all sex behind closed doors!
In my opinion, Vegas IS an adult's playground. Makes sense to make the Furcon there reflect that fact. And from a few things that I've heard, it half sounds like the state of Florida would rather guide their Furcon towards that same direction. _(Florida's weird. One state I'd stay away from.)_ But, I think with so many cons going on around the world, we got room for family friendly and adult only cons. Heck. With the populous of pre-18's out there, maybe some G rated cons, too. However, having just come from an audience side discussion between two moms talking quite openly how all their children had turned to the Furry side, maybe we don't want to be excluding the newer generations from all the fun. Granted, they can stay clear from Vegas. After all, who here knew that Vegas has a zoo? Last I knew, it remained rather quiet about even existing.
Since I saw the thumbnail, I've been scared of one thing. Where's the space for adults who don't want to be around nsfw? If there are more adult-only cons, the implication is that nsfw will be allowed in all spaces at all times. Even if this is against the rules, I can see people ignoring the rules easily. This makes those con spaces unsafe for adults uncomfortable with nsfw, such as aces like me and those with related trauma. So if WE want to go to cons, we'll be forced to go to kid-friendly cons... which brings us back to the out of our age range issue. And worse, if there aren't enough sfw adults, we'd be completely lost in a sea of kids at cons. No bueno. If I was given the ultimate manager position of all cons, I think I'd keep the all-ages sfw + nsfw after dark setup. Keep those spaces separate, but not so separate that adults are forced into spaces they don't feel safe in. For reference I'm 17, so not quite in the group I'm describing, but I will be soon. I'm afraid by the time I'm able to go to my first furcon there won't be any for me anymore :(
All furry cons in Europe are 18+, and they all do a good job of keeping all the public spaces SFW at all times. There are separate NSFW panels and events, and they are all behind closed doors. I am sure the cons in the US will be able to keep 18+ cons just as SFW as the European ones. :)
It's wrong to ban minors from furry conventions as a whole. I'm 35 so I don't have to worry about the age limit myself but making conventions 18+ or 21+ worries me that the convention might just end up being "after dark" NSFW stuff that an asexual like myself wouldn't be into.
Okay, I hate to be this guy, but... I think I need closure on the audio podcast. Will it ever return, or no? It's fine if the answer is no of course, but I just feel like I might be continually hoping for something that's not ever coming.
Also, after watching the video, I think it's interesting. Of course, as you said, it would be a bad idea for an age requirement to be universal, but it would certainly be a good idea in many places. I don't see the purpose of differentiating between 18+ and 21+ however, because here in the US the only actual difference is drinking, and that could probably be by ID, unless I'm missing something.
I'm fine with 18+ and 21+ furry conventions starting. But if these types of cons dominate the selection in the near or distant future, then I will stand against it.
Huh, I wasn't aware there was a 21+ con, I may have to check it out at some point. But yes this is definitely interesting. I went to Megaplex last year which they changed to 18+ and...honestly it seemed like any other convention I've been to. It was nice having adults there (no offense to minors but I'm in my 30's and wouldn't really interact with them). But yeah, there weren't even really 18+ panels or such that happened to my knowledge, it was just a chill conventions full of adults. I do know younger furries miss out though, so it would be nice if maybe if it's not a full convention, but maybe an event for the minors only, like a picnic or ice skating or something. That way they also would have a place for people their own age.
I turned 19 yesterday haha, but I'm not interested in going to those things. firstly, it's in the USA it would be very expensive for me to travel there, secondly, I'm not going to spend my retired money on it... I'd rather spend it on weapons and military equipment
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
What I don't want is for age requirements to become an excuse for furries not to behave at conventions
I don't think that will be the case, behavior rules shouldn't change even if there is an age requirement, if anything they should be enforced even more.
We have 18+ Cons in Europe for two decades now. Its not gotten worse in any way, its just easier for everyone.
But its good to have Cons for younger and older people.
@@FinnThePanther yeah... love you
Pros: Keeps minors safe from potential dangers.
Cons: Disappointed kids who just wanna go and have some harmless fun.
Fr
As a new fur myself, I support this. It's nothing but a positive. But, guys, gals, and everything in between, BEHAVE.
and what if I don't?
@@KingDragon75LMCwell you are going to be a bad person
you did a fantastic job covering everything here! I haven't gotten to attending an 18+ furry convention yet but the interest is definitely there, mainly to see what the major difference between that and an all-ages convention is like!
Thank you! If I get the chance I'd also like to follow-up this video with the experience of an adult-only convention, I think that context would bring my point home a bit better.
When two legends collide
Oh hey! Just wondering, could you go through the "anti-furry document" and disprove it? Some people worship it like it's gospel.
They form the hollow purple
@@FinnThePanther you've been to a 18+ Convention ^^ you've been to EF :D
Im half and half on this. I get wanting an adults only space and that kids can sometimes be out of control and annoying, but there are also a lot of young furs who want to attend as well. There is a huge upset here in Florida that megaplex was forced to go 18+ and will now exclude the younger members of the furry fandom when its always been inviting to them. Kids are also very fun to interact with. As a dino masker, not many adults care about my suit cause its “not cool enough” or “not a real fursuit” but kids love it and want pictures with my character. Its gonna feel rather lonely now at cons just being ignored.
I agree. I hope being adults-only isn't the new trend for conventions, I hope instead that ir encourages more varied cons for everyone, both adults and children. It would be massively excluding if every con where to go 18+. Not only is it excluding a massive portion of the fandom being minors, but it also ostracises the adults that aren't interested or are discomforted by nsfw topics.
I think my tone on this would be different if every new convention changed to only allow adults. But a vast majority of cons are still for everyone so younger furries still have a lot of options. However I think Megaplex's situation is uniquely unfortunate since they previously weren't 18+; that transition is a lot more jarring to attendees than starting out as only for adults.
Man... those adults are lame...
Like, is art, art is art.
@@youkofoxy The reason megaplex went 18+ is due to the anti-drag bill here in florida and the fear that anything seen as "LGBTQ adult performance" can land you a hefty fine and possibly jail time if minors are around.
I get where you’re coming from. My fursona is a penguin and well non adults furries at cons really care for my fursuit because it’s not “cool looking” or I’m not “popular” so in general I don’t really get a lot of photos with other suiters. Most people in the fandom have been rude to me.
Although I’m only 18, I feel more comfortable with this because I’d rather hang out with people my age, when you are 21+, people who are 26 don’t feel that far away versus if your 18, people who are 22 feel so far off.
That is my main view on the situation, people like hanging out with their groups!
For 16 year old me, I lean more towards 18-22. It doesn't really matter if they're anywhere from 15-24, just long as they're actually fun to talk to and decently grounded, I'm more than happy to hang out, so people younger than like 25 still don't seem very far off to me. I just prefer being friends with the youngest of adults more because knowing that I'm able to connect and be friends with adults at a younger age makes me feel a lot more ready for the future than I usually would. Plus, I'm now starting to see how unprepared a lot of adults feel about life too, so knowing that that problem isn't just exclusive to me definitely helps. And of course, adults are just way more reasonable. I don't like to associate with the chaos of average high school teens that people getting into their late 20s, aka most "classic furries", start to have a noticeable distaste towards.
MegaPlex went 21+ last year due to new Florida legislation. I enjoyed the con a lot, but someone posted a YT video of a young girl with a physical handicap in a wheelchair. She was very upset over not being allowed to attend. A bunch of artists pooled their talents and she was presented with an album of artwork of her fursona. It brought tears to my eyes, and I see both sides of the fence.
This year MP will still be 21+ and we’ll all have to see how it goes for the future.
This is just incredibly heartwarming, I hope it managed to cheer her up
It’s actually 18+ not 21+
As a young fur I'm fine with it just as long as there are enough conventions with no age limit/at 13+ age limit
I don't really want to wait 3 more years to experience the most exciting part of the furry fandom
I don't think that will be the case, conventions for all ages should still have the most options!
@@FinnThePantheralso, being an ai “artist” myself, I’ve actually been using a sort of code of conduct. Basically, there’s 2 rules, you must not sell it for money, virtual or real, and you must disclose it is ai generated.
same
My own opinion as a 27 yr old is, some 18-21+ cons sound great.
I dont mind younger furs, but with them come a couple issues cause..... well..... I was younger once, and I was a little shit xD
From sneaking into room parties for booze, or being around less than.... safe.... furs... I think a couple cons for adults only and then a couple for mix sounds like a good idea.
Places where it just makes sense like the one in Las Vegas ect
I like how you take both sides instead of just picking one side and explaining this and that. Cause honestly there really is no right answer, no matter what you do there will always be pros and cons.
Absolutely want a 30+ event, let us be old and sore lmao
I have a feeling it would be a lot more popular than people think!
@@FinnThePantherthen again, one for minors or one specifically made to be made for safe mingling would work nicely.
@@iamarizonaball2642 I saw something about a group (moms of furries?) working to set up events at conventions for minors which is so cool
@@firtee_adoraboldooo! I’ll have to check it out!
You mean us with walking aids, dentures ect. and yelling at clouds? xD
Furry conventions started out as adults only room parties in the '80s. So it just makes sense to maintain that tradition. The introduction of younger fans is a more recent product of the 21st century. And luckily the major cons like Antrhocon, MFF, even the MLP cons can cater to that market, while smaller cons like LVFC, FWA and F2 can be a place where all the salt & pepper and grey muzzles can gather.
Very well thought out video. As an older fur, read as Greymuzzle, I’m in total agreement with you. You’ve got my mate and I very interested in LVFC, and we will be going next year.
So, as an Australian fur, this is actually a really interesting dilemma. Our con scene and population is obviously much smaller. After the collapse of our biggest convention pre-Covid (Confurgence) there was only a few cons left and they have all been 18+ bar one, which is still finding its feet.
It is fantastic for each con individually that is 18+ but it remains so critical to have cons that dedicate to being a General Audience setting, so that there is a space for everyone in the fandom. That inclusivity is essential to the fandom imo. I think the ideal going forward will be to have a diversity of cons which fill both niches because all spaces are important.
At the same time, older furs sure do deserve a space where they can be themselves and free.
I love the idea of having an adult only con, there is tons of kids, im scared of kids, and much rather not to be around them especially when in suit.
Id love a con for adults not for the maturity side but honestly the space i feel im able to better relax and not worry about random iffy kids
I'm all for people having different kinds furry cons they can feel comfortable in. All cons in my country are default 18+ (England), so I hope that they eventually create some cons for all-ages here like they have in the US. I'm 22, but I personally feel uncomfortable with NSFW, so I haven't attended any furry conventions in my country for this reason. I really wish to go to a con one day, so I hope we have some more varied cons like the US soon.
Not all cons in England are 18+ lol?
@@GoofyMann69 All furry conventions are, at least.
@KimuratheCatdragon yep, i was so sad to see the only furry con in Scotland is 18+ :((( NOW IM GONNA HAVE TO SPEND EVEN MORE MONEY TO HANG WITH MY PEOPLE!1!!1!! >:CC
About the age requirement just feels so weird to me, especially for kids in the fandom who just want to feel as invited as everyone else does. I am a minor, which just makes me sad how I might not be able to go to any furry conventions all this time I am in the fandom.
On the other side, I do understand that people that are not minors that want the age requirements to be around their age. Because they don’t wanna be around kids and more of people their age, but it still makes me sad that these kids get excluded from these large events. But also, most of the time they could end up misbehaving, which sucks for the people who are not minors that have to deal with misbehaving children.
as an adult small kids scare me around my suit i would love a 18 plus con just without the party vibe because i like go bed when im done suitng
I personally don't care too much for age requirement at conventions; I am 21 (soon 22!) but typically don't participate in the "adult" activities at cons. BUT it does feel like attendees (my friends, vendors, staff, etc.) have to work around the potential of minors being around. And my friends attending LVFC deemed it a huge success!
I will soon be 18 and have no plans to attend a proper convention until I can financially support myself so I’m not worried about conventions going 18 or 21+ but I feel like it shouldn’t be a universal decision. Some conventions should be for younger people and others for older people. There should be strictly SFW ones and others that are more tolerant of certain things (within reason).
Many people want to “keep the fandom weird” so that large companies don’t try to get involved. I can see benefits to this, but making the community more socially accepted would also not be a bad thing. I’ve heard that Pittsburgh has a really welcoming environment towards Anthrocon and other smaller conventions. It is seen there as just a hobby, rather than a lifestyle or something more sinister.
I can definitely see 18/21+ cons sound great, they’ll probably make a lot of people happy and also prevent those crazy people who think furries are all about the bedroom stuff from complaining about their kids being around it, but on the other hand, it definitely upset tons of parents whose kids really like going to events like fur cons. I like the idea of certain cons being ok for a younger audience, or at least have an event or two that all ages can go to, like the parades or block parties.
I'm all for more variety at cons!
I want every age to have fun :(
That's what everyone wants. And that's why cons where adults can enjoy their booze, flirt with other adults on the dance floor etc have their space, and why cons that are accessible to all also have their space.
It's no different than any other party. Some are appropriate for all ages, some aren't. Especially with certain conservatives implying that everyone who's gay, trans or furry is a groomer by default, not having to worry about such allegations would be quite nice.
I'm 16 (almost 17) and I don't really see myself as a late teen, but I've needed a friend group for years now and the people I've made friends with in this fandom have all been 18-22, which is clear to me that's the group I prefer. It's been really welcoming and I really love being friends with these people, but since I'm like 1.5 years younger than any of them, it really makes me worry that I'm not gonna be able to fit in for long enough to be on the same page as them. Not saying that I'm super eager to be an adult, I really value my time still being a teenager, but the last thing I want is to lose my best friends from a lack of connection because I was born over a year later than them. This convention rule, even if it's pretty understandable in terms of safety, makes me worried since the positive responses I've seen kinda proves the fact that adults just don't want us teens around, still even calling us "kids" sometimes because of our lack of life experience. I just hope this stigma of teens being immature and annoying doesn't affect people like me who just wanna have more opportunities (like conventions) to bond with the older friends they want to stick around with.
Also, I think there should be SAFE 18+ furry conventions that allow 16-17 year olds given they have adult company, and the only sections that are required as 18+ or 21+ are marked as such and guarded the same way any other common furry convention would do so.
Thank you for tackling a difficult subject and being engaging as well. Plus I wouldn't mind an 80's dance. (like your song selection) ^^
I’m A Little Mixed On This One. Children Are The Future Of This Fandom However Adults Like Us Should Have Our Own Spaces.
The correct answer is pretty much always somewhere in-between the two extremes
I think a family friendly con with 18+ areas could be a good solution. Especialy large cons have to meet demands of very different people.
I am a furry and 31. I definitely prefer adult only events. However I am also a parent of a kiddo is is wanting to be apart of the community (she is a pre-teen right now) and I wish there were more events like the one i went to when I was her age where the parents could drop their kids off and there were “parent rooms” where they would go chill while I hung out with my friends
I'm surprised more events don't have spaces like this, especially with the rise of furry parents!
Before COVID Moms of Furs ran young/ teen turry only events and hangbout rooms at different comes like Furlandia.
YOUR LIL DANCE MADE MY WHOLE DAY YESSSS
I love Kool and the Gang 😅
i really hope they keep some family friendly, cons are the one place i can take a break from my real life.
It's like cons have become big enough to have different audiences to cater to; like with movies, video games, etc with age ratings. Crazy, right?
What movies? Zootopia?
I would 100% support a con that is 30+.
I'm sure many people would!
as a non furry who knows a couple of them, it actually makes me happy they're taking care of both the adults and the young.
People underestimate how much regulations places that are for the family have, there's a reason disneyland is a sugar coated as it gets, it's because they still want to sell to children. Furries just have the adult stuff not that hidden and whilst a lot of the youth also can explore that part of their person, I don't think going stright to where most adults are is a good idea.
This is a good movement for everyone, childrne should explore themselves in a safe space and adults should also feel comfortable to express themselves also in a safe space.
I feel that there should be dedicated times for certain ages, I want people like myself to enjoy conventions
Megaplex going 18+ was for a bad reason (The state government being garbage in Florida), but I've seen more people talking positively about the change than negatively. And attendance still blew up from years prior.
Megaplex was put in an unfortunate situation that's a little different than LVFC, but I've also heard that the decision is beginning to grow on people.
@@FinnThePanther Yea, I wouldn't wish it for that reason, but I personally don't mind the event being 18+
I do wish that there were more events that focused on younger furs too, and maybe like ANW be explicitly more focused on families. There are a lot of furries who would love family friendly spaces, and being able to show that furries are not all of the things that the negative media makes us out to be
This alludes to one drawback of age restrictions. Perhaps I have a preternaturally dirty mind, but when I hear "this event is for 18 or over," I tend to interpret that as, "this event is going to make 'Eyes Wide Shut' look tame in comparison." Not the best thing to happen for a fandom that's still trying to convince people that it's not just a cover for people with unusual mating habits.
@@benjaminrobinson3842 The cons here in Europe are all 18+, and they still have pretty strict rules on what is allowed and not allowed in the open con spaces. So everything you see is SFW aside from the actual NSFW events.
I have been a furry since I was 8 and haven't had issues in the fandom
i think the trend of younger furries joining the fandom more and adult furries wanting to spend more time in the company of adults to enjoy adult interests without worrying about a minor being exposed is a culmination of changing political views. It is becoming more common these days for people to reject NSFW content, even some adults do it (I am no exception) simply because they just don't want to see that stuff frequently. That, on top of that content being inappropriate for minors and a lot of minors I've met being openly anti-NSFW is creating big increases in attendance at family friendly events but also creating a bigger divide on social appropriateness in the fandom because traditionally fanmade furry content has been sexual. Minors want to enjoy furry wholesomely, meanwhile adults want to enjoy adult interests by being responsible and keeping inappropriate content away from minors. This change is beneficial to safety and enjoyability of furry conventions but I'm slightly worried that the future of the fandom will become age segregated, splitting the culture, and the younger generation's general sex negativity will create tension with people who want to enjoy sex appropriately because the internet is not as inaccessible as conventions are.
I'm a younger furry and I've seen this too. Though I've significantly step back from interacting with the fandom due to things like this. I understand my place as a minor and I see this as a great thing. Though your concerns are valid. I've seen questionable takes (liking furries = zoophilia for example, but by furries themselves) so.. Honestly I'm kinda concerned too
Mcfc in Michigan is 18+ and I had lots of fun there and felt that it was a good environment to be yourself without too much worry
i love the 21+ for some cons i think it should just be the context of the con for age requirements like for lvfc i find it very responsible of the con since its in las vegas a very alcohol heavy area
Good point, context and location plays a big role in decisions like this
@@FinnThePanther yeah! im glad lvfc was 21+ cause while i was there most people were intoxicated i personally wouldnt want any kids there lol
@@stinkbug_max8318 is legal buying alcohol in most places and even younger in lot of Europe
as a minor, I agree with this, and it's very nice!
There is a false equivalency here - purely unintentional, I suspect - that I feel the need to point out.
Yes, it's true. After-dark panels have been a thing for the majority of the time furry conventions have existed.
And yes, it's true. Night markets - while comparatively new in the fandom - have still existed for years.
However, there is something that is not being taken into account here.
Panels and markets are fine, but while they are features of conventions, they are not the central theme. They are not the core of why furry conventions exist in the first place.
So, why do furry conventions exist in the first place?
They are a place to be SOCIAL.
Most kids don't give a twist about adult panels. They're generally just not that interested.
Most kids don't particularly care about night markets, because there's enough cool stuff in the dealer's den.
What kids want at a convention is a sense of BELONGING. They want to feel like they're members of the fandom, like their presence is legitimized by the event. They want to meet other young furries and form friendships, they want to see the cool fursuits, they want to get cool things in the dealer's den that help to show who they are.
That's why this is a problem, and is something I sincerely hope doesn't become a trend. LVFC isn't telling kids, "Sorry, you can't participate in this part of the convention." They're telling kids - and not just kids, but anyone under 21 - that "We don't want you around AT ALL." They are sending a message of rejection, and that's exactly what entirely too many younger furs already get in their day-to-day lives.
Do I acknowledge that ageism is a problem in our fandom? Absolutely. I'm frequently a victim of it myself, being an older fur who often feels invisible.
But the right way to fight ageism is not with more ageism. If anything, younger furs need to connect with older furs. In this way, they benefit from the knowledge and experience we have, they remind us of how dynamic and fun our fandom can be and challenge our preconceived notions, and they help bridge the gaps that divide us.
In summary, is this something LVFC has the right to do? Yes.
Do I think it's the right thing to do? No.
Is this the future of furry conventions? DEAR GOD, I hope not.
As someone who's spent a lot of time in Las Vegas I'll just say that the strip isn't a place I'd bring a kid for multiple reasons.
I wouldn’t say it’s “ageism” I think that adults just want their own space. Also, LV is a predominantly adult space. As a 17yo I wouldn’t even wanna be running around there 😅 It’s not like ALL cons are turning 18+ either. There are still cons that are for all ages!
I got to agree with some other people in the comments here that I am half and half on this issue. I am a furry, but I mainly go to anime cons, mainly cause it just more my thing, but I think the same ideas could be applied to anime cons as well. On one hand, I do think it is important for adults to have spaces free of minors if they don't want to be around them, and can be free to act how they want (Within reason of course) but at the same time minors deserve to have these spaces as well, and I certainly would have been really sad when I was a teenager if I couldn't go to anime/furry cons just because they were all 18/21+ by default. I personally don't like NSFW stuff or NSFW sides of either the anime/furry fandoms, so I would probably feel very uncomfortable and turned off by an adults only con unless there was separate spaces for SFW and NSFW activities, but at that point, why make it adults only? I feel like a good way to balance this is how my local anime cons have already been handling this (And like you mentioned in the vid) which is having the con being all ages, but then having adults only panels and areas of the con for those people who enjoy it. Since I don't enjoy NSFW stuff, I can just go home by that point in the day, and still have had my fun. But don't get me wrong, I still totally understand the appeal and adults only cons.
Most anime cons where I'm from in Canada and ones I've seen in the US are still all ages and I personally haven't heard of an anime con in North America being 18/21+, but it wouldn't surprise me if some anime fans started taking notes from furries and experimenting with 18/21+ cons, especially with the overlap between fans in the anime/furry space. Either way, very well informed vid! I'll be interested to see how cons handle this in the future, and if there might be more adults only anime/furry popping up in NA in the future!
I don’t think all conventions should be 18+ just some should that way everyone is happy
As a minor I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this it’s only the people under 21 who are complaining but I don’t understand why this most likely won’t be a trend
It’s should be 18 not 21
WOULD dance to Kool & The Gang fr. Definitely would like a push for different music like that lol.
I really think it’s good idea to experiment with age restrictions, it’s not bad thing at all cause. I really think this could be a great way for everyone to get their cake and ice cream too, a lot of older furries would like to hang out with older furries and maybe pass on some wisdom or find friends their age.
I go to furry conventions because I want to hang out with like minded adults, not children.
For me the furry fandom is for adults. I don't want to interact with minors, NSFW stuff aside I just don't care about interaction with teens or young adults that much. Fuck make a con 25+ and I'd go there over a "all ages" con.
Age restrictions seem like a good idea to me. I wouldn't need to worry about accidentally knocking over some unseen kid while I'm fursuiting. Likewise, no need to pay attention to who is walking by when drawing kinky artwork. If the age restrictions reduce pressure on hotel rooms then that's another benefit!
Although I am on the younger side, 19, I can totally understand why some people in the community strive for this type of age exclusivity. There are cons being planned almost every day and at this point, almost anyone is allowed in. I don't think many people should worry about age restrictions.
I don’t even have that many fursuit conventions near me and I am hoping they don’t go 18+ so I can go as soon as I can
As for an adult myself, I approve of this.
Less crying babies and unruly children the better. 🙄
I never been to That con specifically but, that’s pretty interesting.
I saw this whole conversation going down on Twitter and damn. 😅
Las Vegas is a playground for adults. Making a con there 21+ makes logistics easier. I can see some future cons being adult-only, and as long as the all ages events are still vibrant I don't see the issue.
After ur video and other deep dive I think that there should be cons for all ages, some cons for adults, some cons for the older folks. The fandom is supposed to be about being yourself and what teen doesn’t need to feel that way. I don’t want to go here but especially the queer. Let their be a mix, just like in real life. There’s things for the adults and things there for the kids. Things both can enjoy because in the end we are all human
As long as they're not gatekeeping because of the age requirement, it's OK.
Having these 21+ cons has long been needed. I used to do anime cons every year or so. And the last few I did go to, I just couldn't get into the vibe. Everything was too family friendly, and the "adult" panels kept getting fewer by the year. And I was only in my late 20's (early 30's now), back then. And every time I went, I'd feel more outta place
I truly think that having one or more 21+ events would give new life to many fandoms. It'd give a more relaxed and worry-free experience to regular adult con-goers, and might even encourage people (like me), to get back into it.
I been in the furry fandom since 2016 so i know i am an og in the fandom xD
Diversity is the spice of life. I think it's important for kids and families to have events that have been created with them in mind, and I think it's important for adults to have spaces just for themselves, too. Las Vegas seems like a perfect place for an adults-only con to me! We shouldn't feel obliged to make everything "kid-friendly" or kid-accessible, but we do need to honor and include our younger members by giving them *some* safe and suitable opportunities to participate here and there.
I’m not an adult fur but I am older and I highly agree there needs to be adult only cons I know how annoying my age group is
I think you can have some Furry Con for adults but let balance with general audience cause young Fur our the future to grow with parental permission ... Also we have to avoid ageism on both scale of life..
Up the mínimum age to enter at some Furry conventions have a essential benefit: Don't need to handle some crazy parents. Loads of parents lose their minds when they watch furry behavior for the first time and some of them make awful things... (In Mexico, some cruel parents broke his fursuit's son because they don't like the furry convention that his son went)
Furry fandom is getting bigger and bigger, we need conventions and events for (legal) adults only, to avoid future troubles
I love that ANW is great for kids, but being in Seattle myself, I wish there was a second local con that was the flipside of being adults only. Not that I care about the sexual or kink side of things and want to showcase that or see it, but purely for the fact that I don't want to have to constantly censor myself for children being present. I'm old and over 30. If I wanted to be around kids, I'd go visit my niece and nephew.
I totally agree. And just based on how many of us are up here, it's almost guaranteed to do well
The same can be said about anime/manga/comic conventions too. We´ve had a growth of new and younger fans since around 2012 (when the Avenger movies became popular and so reading comics/manga became more mainstream (for better or worse ;D)) and some of us older fans wanted at least a little bit more room for NSFW art ect. The only Con who started a NSFW area was the Dokomi in Düsseldorf, who has an entire exibition hall for those things (IDs are getting checked of course ;D), but only since 2019 (I guess). A few Cons picked up on that, but only for a few panels (bc they have smaller convention venues) for adults, but I never visited them.
I´m curios what kind of 21+ program did the Las Vegas Con had or was it "just like any other furry con"?
I am fine with age restricted furcons but I personally think that too many 18+/21+ cons are not cool.
I agree, my tone would change if all new cons went adult-only. I like the variety!
One argument I saw from one person on Twitter that i think is a good thing to discuss is will more cons switching to 18+ continue to enforce the stereotype that the Fandom is all about NSFW stuff?
While I can understand the fear, I beleive it's ultimately a good move because it can diversify the spaces that congoers can attend and can help keep people safe because, no joke, some seriously messed up stuff can happen at cons when people aren't careful.
I am just going to leave it at I am not going to these because I do not want the downsides that many adults-only conventions have. (For a very funny but surprisingly true representation, I refer you to Ray Stevens' Shriner's Convention.)
Yeah I like the organizers having the freedom to set up the con as they see fit. I like that there are choices of cons that are adults only/ kink friendly and other cons that are all ages/ family friendly and kink not allowed. If you don’t like the con don’t go and maybe set up your own con as you see fit.
I guess it depends on where the conventions are located, And what time they open.
I support the cons or meetups that choose to to 18+/21+, especially considering the potential risk involved when minors might try to sneak into adult areas/activities/parties, or drink or whatever.
They may think it's mischievous fun to go hang out with the adults, but it CAN cause serious issues for the con. It's the kind of thing the news media is ready to pounce on.
Sometimes adults just want to do adult things, drink adult beverages, laugh at adult humor without having to self-censor. That's why some restaurants have age restrictions, that's why some resorts are adults-only, that's why some people have child-free weddings. It doesn't mean the whole event is NSFW.
Cons that want to be all-ages and offer activities for kids (like the Moms of Furries group) are awesome, too. I love that there are events where younger members of the fandom can participate, too.
Furry Retreat has always been 18+ from the beginning almost a decade ago and Wild Nights just became 18+ as of last year.
As for the age of con goers for decades there are cons that have had no to very few minors that attended fur cons despite them not being banned at all from attending the con.. Changing a fur con to 18+ will have very little affect at all. The simple reason is its hard for a minor to attend a fur con, the first reason is cost its hard for a minor to pay to attend a fur con as all the costs are very high from transportation to renting a room is not cheap especially for a minor who may not have a job or if they do they make very little every month. The next problem is actually getting guardian permission to attend as very few parents will allow their kids to attend a fur con. At a fur con that has well over a thousand attendees you may at most have a dozen or so minors attending. Cons wont be hurt in the least by denying minors from attending. Then on the fur cons side the legal problems are greatly reduced as minors bring legal issues with them even if they are extremely well behaved. The only people that will be really be affected are furs who have kids of their own where the parents are the ones who want to attend and not necessarily the kids.
Now there is a way for furs who are parents with their kids to attend a fur con that bans kids and that is to ghost the con. Go to the hotel where the con is being held and stay in the public areas and not enter in the official con space but to stay in the hotel lobby area. The con wont like it but they have no say in the matter as its public space, If they want you kicked out they will have to get the hotel manager to kick you out and unless you are creating a disturbance for the hotel staff and not the con staff the hotel manager wont do that.
As a fur who just turned 18, seeing cons be pushed to 21 feels more and more like I’m being kept from joining events. It’s incredibly frustrating, and to see this to happen to more conventions, especially smaller conventions in areas where we don’t have multiple events a year really sucks. I don’t like this trend, specifically because it feels like all the older furs are forgetting what it’s like to be a young furry, weird and awkward, desperate for an outlet to express themselves.
Its just that adults sometimes need to know that they really are adults, i dont see a problem with that
I recon it would be a better time for it to be 21+ but it does kinda suck not being able to go for another 3 years.
Even though I'm 20 and am about to turn 21, I kind of just want 18+ at all cons ngl. Like I already can't get drunk yet, why am i being gate kept out of cons too?
I assume it's liability. The people running it likely have a legal responsibility to ensure no underage drinking happens, and that's incredibly hard when lots of people are wearing face coverings.
If it's a no alcohol venue, there's of course no problem with 18 year olds. And in countries where the drinking age is 18, that whole issue wouldn't exist.
Yes. Yes this should be the future.
I am in my early 20’s and I do think an 18+ only con would good because the 18+ stuff could stay in that specific con to 18+ people. I also do think not all cons should be 18+ only because there is also younger furry and the furry fandom doesn’t revolve around 18+ content.
I normally go to MFF but ill have to look into this one next year never been to Las Vegas.
Even tho I never attended a furcon, and you guys might say, "You have no right to say it if you haven't attended one yet". So, if you guys don't like the little kids, what about a furcon that is 13+/16+ instead. Adults only cons is fine, but please don't make it the majority of all cons, so young furries are welcomed
Well at least I'm older than 21. I'm only 22 years old, I'm gonna be 23 this year. So I'll see if I can go to LVFC whenever I feel like.
As a minor fur, I totally agree that some cons should have 18+/21+ etc, but also I think if I were to go to a convention with some inappropriate things I won't care because I've already seen some stuff. But that doesn't matter because adults wanna be adults with no kids and kids wanna have fun and stuff or wanna show their art and design.
Would be great if with all these age restricted cons, they'd have more that weren't.
For example if a con went to 21+, they do another one that isn't so those cons double up.
Though maybe I just want more cons in general since there's only one that's near me 😅
It would be nice to hang out with other adults during the day time instead of having to wait until the evening for most of the activities. I would love to have a furry brunch or tea time or something. Also a dance party where its not just EDM would be so much fun,I do love the dance parties as they are but a little variety could interesting. I would definitely sit in on a panel about taxes lol. Furry yoga could be a fun activity as well, not a lot of people talk about how important stretching is before suiting as an adult. I think a good way to compromise for a Con that might not want to go exclusively +18 or +21 would be to have two days for all ages and then the other two would be the adult days (since most of the cons seem to be four days long). And by having activities that more adults would enjoy that aren't, you know "adult entertainment" (like the nasty rumours that continue on the internet would have other people believe), might also bring more adults to the fandom that have been scared off by that.
With the amount of younger furs i've seen harassing older furs and telling them to leave the fandom if they're over 30 (in some cases i've seen them suggest 25) this is a true surprise pikachu face moment
As a minor, I support this.
I don't see a graymuzzle con ever happening as the biggest age group draw for cons are 18 to 30 year olds. There are few graymuzzles as for the vast majority of people furry is just a fad that they out grow when they finish collage and pursue more adult endeavors.
What I would like to see is a fur con that is a week and a half long. It starts say on a Thursday goes though the next entire week and ends on Tuesday on the following week so 13 days long.
If the adults actually acted like adults I doubt it would be a problem
Wait your local con is anw too?!?!?!?
I'm all for it. Personally, I'm very tired of the demand to have everything sanitized to the point of where I don't even know what I can and cannot do. For example, I saw a discussion that you can't wear harnesses because kids are around and that's adult bedroom stuff. But, as we all know, there are furries who wear harnesses because sled dogs and draft horses. There's also fashion wear; harnesses are sometimes part of a particular look. What about corsets? Are those too adult? Does that mean collars too? It just gets really frustrating because where is the line? Making it completely adult means less likelihood for that to happen.
I agree that those cons should be at least 18+ but the case of LVFC doesn't really mean anything, let me elaborate.
If you take the donations of each year and divide it by the number of attendees, you only get a 0.5$/attendee increase in donations from 2023 to 2024. It's a 13% increase in donations, and I don't think that's significant enough to conclude that there is a connection between the age of the attendees and the donations.
The increase in number of attendees could be due to anything really, all furry cons have a massive increase in attendees in recent years. Or it could just be because some popufur decided to go to this con.
Quick question: Can you wear a cat-mask(of a fursona ofc) to a furry con?
Why shouldn’t you?
The issue I have is that the only con with age restriction I've seen are only furry con, and I'm scared of that for the only reason that convention may start to be nsfw only instead of sfw. There isn't any problem of sexuality in anime con or video game con but the only conventions that show this issue are the furry con.
Here in Europe the furry cons are 18+ and we don't have any problems with sexuality in the SFW spaces of the con. The NSFW stays in the NSFW events, and the sex going on in private in hotel rooms. It's exactly the way it is supposed to be. No sex in public, all sex behind closed doors!
In my opinion, Vegas IS an adult's playground. Makes sense to make the Furcon there reflect that fact. And from a few things that I've heard, it half sounds like the state of Florida would rather guide their Furcon towards that same direction. _(Florida's weird. One state I'd stay away from.)_ But, I think with so many cons going on around the world, we got room for family friendly and adult only cons. Heck. With the populous of pre-18's out there, maybe some G rated cons, too.
However, having just come from an audience side discussion between two moms talking quite openly how all their children had turned to the Furry side, maybe we don't want to be excluding the newer generations from all the fun. Granted, they can stay clear from Vegas. After all, who here knew that Vegas has a zoo? Last I knew, it remained rather quiet about even existing.
Awesome. Change is great for the evolution of cons.
Since I saw the thumbnail, I've been scared of one thing. Where's the space for adults who don't want to be around nsfw?
If there are more adult-only cons, the implication is that nsfw will be allowed in all spaces at all times. Even if this is against the rules, I can see people ignoring the rules easily. This makes those con spaces unsafe for adults uncomfortable with nsfw, such as aces like me and those with related trauma. So if WE want to go to cons, we'll be forced to go to kid-friendly cons... which brings us back to the out of our age range issue. And worse, if there aren't enough sfw adults, we'd be completely lost in a sea of kids at cons. No bueno.
If I was given the ultimate manager position of all cons, I think I'd keep the all-ages sfw + nsfw after dark setup. Keep those spaces separate, but not so separate that adults are forced into spaces they don't feel safe in.
For reference I'm 17, so not quite in the group I'm describing, but I will be soon. I'm afraid by the time I'm able to go to my first furcon there won't be any for me anymore :(
Some cons, like Anthrocon, do a good job enforcing this exact idea. The separation of concerns is still important for all conventions!
All furry cons in Europe are 18+, and they all do a good job of keeping all the public spaces SFW at all times. There are separate NSFW panels and events, and they are all behind closed doors. I am sure the cons in the US will be able to keep 18+ cons just as SFW as the European ones. :)
It's wrong to ban minors from furry conventions as a whole. I'm 35 so I don't have to worry about the age limit myself but making conventions 18+ or 21+ worries me that the convention might just end up being "after dark" NSFW stuff that an asexual like myself wouldn't be into.
3:44 one take, three blue wolves
I think there should be both not all furry cons have to be 21+ or all ages
Anime Cons: 'you think 5 k attendees is a lot?'
^.^
Okay, I hate to be this guy, but... I think I need closure on the audio podcast. Will it ever return, or no? It's fine if the answer is no of course, but I just feel like I might be continually hoping for something that's not ever coming.
Also, after watching the video, I think it's interesting. Of course, as you said, it would be a bad idea for an age requirement to be universal, but it would certainly be a good idea in many places. I don't see the purpose of differentiating between 18+ and 21+ however, because here in the US the only actual difference is drinking, and that could probably be by ID, unless I'm missing something.
I'm fine with 18+ and 21+ furry conventions starting. But if these types of cons dominate the selection in the near or distant future, then I will stand against it.
I’m usually getting ignored cause I’m not well known
Huh, I wasn't aware there was a 21+ con, I may have to check it out at some point. But yes this is definitely interesting. I went to Megaplex last year which they changed to 18+ and...honestly it seemed like any other convention I've been to. It was nice having adults there (no offense to minors but I'm in my 30's and wouldn't really interact with them). But yeah, there weren't even really 18+ panels or such that happened to my knowledge, it was just a chill conventions full of adults. I do know younger furries miss out though, so it would be nice if maybe if it's not a full convention, but maybe an event for the minors only, like a picnic or ice skating or something. That way they also would have a place for people their own age.
I turned 19 yesterday haha, but I'm not interested in going to those things. firstly, it's in the USA
it would be very expensive for me to travel there, secondly, I'm not going to spend my retired money on it...
I'd rather spend it on weapons and military equipment
Ahem sei! 😂
@@SimonGaylor Oxe oxe oxe 😅
@@Ahrthurh_COM_h relaxa, ele è um inferno na minha vida
E meu melhor amigo
E furry br? Pensei que br era que nem eu
Nao igual o simon
@@Arthurfs10 Sabem muito