Leftists enraged that kids cannot attend furry convention due to law ratified by DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly indicated that Florida is where "woke goes to die." Having ensured that is the case, in part, by ratifying the Protection of Children Act, SB 1438, he has given leftists in the state another strange cause to mourn.

Megaplex is a "Furry/Anthropomorphic Arts Convention" in Orlando, Florida, that will be held in September at the Hyatt Regency Orlando. It is ostensibly a mecca both for perverts who sexualize cartoon animals and for the socially-stunted who enjoy dressing up in animal costumes.

Organizers for the annual event noted on May 24 that as a result of SB 1438, "it has been decided that for legal reasons and protection of our attendees, our venue, and the overall convention, Megaplex attendees must be 18 years of age at the time of registration pickup."

SB 1438, introduced by Republican state Sens. Clay Yarborough and Keith Perry, prohibits "a person from knowingly admitting a child to an adult live performance."

Furthermore, it prohibits a governmental entity from issuing a permit or otherwise authorizing a person to conduct an adult performance in front of minors.

"Adult live performance" is defined in the legislation as "any show, exhibition, or other presentation in front of a live audience which, in whole or in part, depicts or simulates nudity, sexual conduct, sexual excitement, or specific sexual activities ... lewd conduct, or the lewd exposure of prosthetic or imitation genitals or breasts."

DeSantis ratified the act on May 17. One week later, Megaplex indicated that its days of possibly exposing children to adult performances might be over.

While Orlando Weekly and other publications claim that it is a common misconception that "furries are a sexualized subculture," Vox indicated that a survey conducted at a similar furry convention revealed that nearly all of the male respondents and over 78% of female respondents admitted to viewing furry pornography.

A 2019 study published in the journal "Archives of Sexual Behavior" indicated that male furries "tended to report a pattern of sexual interests ... involving anthropomorphic animals. Both sexual attraction to anthropomorphic animals and sexual arousal by fantasizing about being anthropomorphic animals were nearly universal."

Fresh off advancing false allegations about a Florida school, Rolling Stone denounced DeSantis for having a hand in preventing dehumanized convention-goers from rubbing shoulders with children while incognito.

E.J. Dickson, a self-professed "Disney adult" who occasionally writes about porn for the magazine, suggested that "DeSantis has successfully sucked the pleasure out of many of life's little joys," adding that his ratification of a bill protecting children from deviant displays is no exception.

Unlike Orlando Weekly, Dickson was willing to admit that "there is a segment of furrydom that does treat it as a kink" and that furry conventions boast adult content but "typically save such programming for later at night ... or cordon off adult vendors so they are not in full view of other attendees."

Having acknowledged that there is adult content, adult intent, and adult merchandise, Dickson leapt to the conclusion that barring children from such an environment amounted to an assault on the LGBT agenda.

"The fact that the furry organizers felt pressured to bar children from the convention is yet another example of how it’s been seen as an attack on LGBTQ rights," wrote Dickson, adding that nearly 80% of furries identify as not-straight.

After stressing both that the event is not "inherently sexual" then highlighting the sexual preference of the super-majority of attendees, Dickson claimed that "many furries are marginalized in some way."

While Pink News indicated "there is an overlap between the LGBTQ+ community and the furry fandom," the LGBT activists' flag still has yet to include a stripe accounting for the marginalized furries who will have to convene in September without children present.