Tell me if you have seen this before:  Some number of nameless, faceless furries on Twitter have decided that you are a Nazi, pedophile, zoophile, enabler, or just fill in the blank.  They are suddenly outraged that your local organizer allows you to attend his fur meets.  This cannot go on!

The Twitter hate mob then singles out the organizer of said event and harasses him until he capitulates.  Moments later, he sends you a dear John text message to inform you that you have been removed from the group.

Does that sound familiar?  Has this happened to you?  Has this happened to someone you know?  Are you still hoping that this won’t happen to you?

Now picture this:  Some number of furries on Twitter have decided you must be removed from some event they will never go to themselves, but it is still unacceptable to allow you to be there.  They contact the organizer to make their demands, fully expecting to get their way, because they always have.  However, the organizer is a member of your local union.  Even though he does not want to be called a Nazi sympathizer for allowing you to attend, he cannot simply remove you from the group.  He is bound by the bylaws to follow the proper procedure for punishing or removing a member of the group.

Two weeks later, before your meeting with the president of your local union, the whole thing has blown over and no one even remembers what you were being accused of.  So, the whole thing just evaporates, because no one cares enough about whatever it was you were being accused of to continue the process.

Picture another scenario:  The faceless hate mob on Facebook says you are not allowed to attend furry events, because it offends them that you are allowed to attend furry events.  They contact the organizer to harass him into compliance.  He is not a member of the union, so he sends you your walking papers.

You inform the president of your local union that you have just been shadow sniped by the mob, so he contacts your organizer to inform him that he, and all the members of the union, will now be boycotting his event until you are reinstated.  He then offers that organizer the opportunity to join their union, so that he can benefit from being a member, just like the furry he was trying to railroad, because internet hate mobs should not be allowed to harass and threaten meet organizers.

The extra layer of bureaucracy can shield an organizer as well, because they can say, “Hey guys, I love the idea.  You’re totally right, the guy’s a Nazi, but I can’t just remove him.  I have to follow the bylaws.  But I’ll go talk to the members right now and we can deal with it at our next meeting.  I promise!”  Then two weeks goes by and no one can even remember what the problem was and the whole thing just disappears, for the accuses, the accused, and for the beleaguered organizer who had an out that was given to him by the union bylaws.

What if any given furry convention wrote this one thing into their bylaws?

• Lodging Complaints
  1. No paying attendee will be disciplined or removed without an accuser.
  2. The accuser must be another paying attendee.
  3. The accuser must present themselves to the ops department in person.
  4. Three staff members, the accuser, and the accused will convene a meeting to discuss the issue.
  5. The accuser presents their issue(s).
  6. The accused presents their defense.
  7. The three staff members will deliberate and decide on an appropriate action.

This system would eliminate 99% of the frivolous complaints that have been lodged against members of our community.  The majority of accusations are conjured in the moment and enjoy only a brief life span.  Furthermore, most accusers are either not physically present, or they simply do not care enough about the issue to actually go and talk to someone about it.

Eliminate social media from the equation!  Elevate paying customers to their rightful place in the hierarchy of issues.  If you are present and you actually paid money to be there, your opinion is automatically more important than the opinion of some faceless coward on the internet.  If you are willing to step forward and present your issue, you are far more important than some faceless coward on the internet.  You deserve to be heard.  You deserve to be defended.

~Sisyphus

Perhaps one of the issues with our community is that it has officially grown too large to accommodate one set of ideals.  Clearly, some of the newer members have very different ideals than the older members.  This is not to separate specifically on the basis of age or time in the fandom.  Instead, some who hold that we must have gatekeepers and political standards have always been with us, but only until recently, they were not of a significantly large enough number to warrant any changes in the way we do business with one another.

Now that we seem to have enough members of this “new way”, perhaps that is merely a sign that the fandom has grown beyond the boundaries of just one way.

The solution, according to the members of this “new way”, is to force others into whatever box is chosen for them, compare them to some “new standard”, and exile them from the group.  Others are content to maintain the previous standard of “just deal with it”.  I think we are seeing that these two methods are in fact mutually exclusive.  They cannot be reconciled.  They are simply too different.

Instead of letting someone else choose for you what and where you will be, we should devise a solution that allows the individual to decide for themselves.  Think of it like a trip to the super market.  You browse the isles in search of what you want.  You can see your options.  You choose based on your personal preference.  No one tells you what to buy.  You decide that for yourself.

College fraternities are a similar experience.  You have choices.  You inspect the values and objectives of each, since they are publicly known, then you decide whose values and objectives are closest to your own.  The end result is that you are able to associate yourself with the assembly that you like best.  The choice is yours.  You are not required or forced to join any specific fraternity.  You decide that for yourself.

The beauty of a system like the fraternity system is that although they are separate entities with their own values and objectives, they are still considered a part of the school in which they reside.  They are part of a single system, with some shared values and objectives.  They are a collection of micro-systems that have their own values and objectives, all of which fit within the more generic values and objectives of the larger entity.

In the furry community, it might look like this:  The fandom as a whole is about artistic expression within the context of anthropomorphic characters.  The individual groups have the same goals, but with a finer point that has been defined to fit their specific community.  This is only to illustrate the concept.

Are you the leader of your local fur meet?  Imagine what it would look like if you sat down with your group and you all decided to write down your specific values and objectives.  What would your group’s “constitution” look like?  What would you include to make it specific to your group, in your area?

What specific values would you include in your constitution?  What protections would you include for the members of your group?  Would your group improve with the guarantee that you cannot be kicked out without some due process, or at least have the opportunity to defend yourself, or the opportunity to confront your accuser(s)?  Would being a member of your group have any benefits at all?  How would you enforce those protections or accomplish those benefits?  What would the structure of your group look like?  Would you, or should you, include elected positions?  How long would your officers remain in office?

If you built your constitution and bylaws together, wouldn’t you expect some type of agreement from the group?  How would you ratify your constitution and bylaws?  Would you require any special entry process?  Maybe it would be as easy as, “Sign here, if you want to be part of our group, because we have all agreed to follow these rules.”

A simple display of your values and objectives would tell new comers a lot about your group.  They can decide if you are the right fit for them.  You aren’t telling them yes or no, but they can decide for themselves if you are right for them.

What would your regularly assembled furry meetup look like if you added a constitution and bylaws?

What if you added an LLC layer?

Some things are simple and they should stay that way, but if your group seems to be experiencing some turmoil, then maybe you have grown beyond simple.  Maybe you need to declare your values and objectives, for clarity.  With some basic rules, and a system for enforcing those rules, you might find it much easier to regulate your assembly and maintain its focus without the confusion and in-fighting.  The fandom is a big place – and getting bigger all the time – so if there are a few who don’t like the definition, they can go to another group that is a better fit for them, or even start their own.

None of this is to suggest that these groups cannot work together, like the fraternities on a college campus.  They can still cooperate and coordinate with one another.  If anything, it would be easier to build large coordinated events with multiple groups involved.  The structure would make this level of coordination much easier and more successful.

What would your meet look like if it were structured, if you actually wrote down your values and objectives, and if you used elected officials?

-Sisyphus