In the real world we deal with things everyday that make us come face to face with hate itself, whether you’re a woman in the workplace and you are discriminated against or a African American being pulled over for no justifiable reason by the police simple because of the color of your skin, racism, agism, sexism, ableism and basic ignorant prejudice is all around us in many places in the world we live in.
Often this is even increased on platforms like video games that give the player base a sense of anonymity which in turn allows the ugliest parts of person to be revealed once the promise of consequences is removed. The question is, “Is it the same in Second Life?” have we reached the utopian ideal in this virtual world where we all live and get along in harmony, no. No. a giant big, colossal No.
I Spoke to many people this week about the things that they have faced in second life for being black, for being a woman, for being disabled, for being young or old but the one community that stood to me the most was the furry community, the stories I heard were just hurtful and appalling, music venues not allowing them to even come and enjoy music, sims not allowing access to anyone with a tail or non-human face. I found corners of SL where Fury’s would gather and they seemed like “safe spaces” spaces in the grid where they could be free to be themselves, it hurt my heart to hear the stories around them being removed form places for just being who they are and to be honest I met some of the nicest people I’ve met in my 10 years in SL in this community.
I even bought myself a tail, initially it was to blend in for my attempt to infiltrate the community but over time I grew to love my tail, I would get compliments on it from the other Furry’s around me and I’ve honestly never felt so welcome by a community in second life. To be honest with you I was overwhelmed when a multitude of Furry’s started to explain their stories, banned for being furry, hunted, shot at, targeted directly by groups of trolls who would go out and find Furry’s to make fun of. One story stood out to me and gave me an unsettling feeling, it is as follows. A certain Group/Sim which shall remain nameless would literally target specific furry groups and hunt them as a kind of warped sport, they would RP as is if they were looking for Furry’s to kill. Another story that comes to mind is a man who has a love for motorcycles and tried to start a MC in second life only to realize that the entire MC community for the most part shoots at any furry on site and regards them as less than human, he has been rejected from any MC meet ups and is considered a pest in the eyes of some of second life’s largest MC’s. Even a personal story to end on, as an SL musician, some of my furry fans have been not allowed to come to certain venues to hear me play.
I hope this article brings awareness that not only agism, sexism and racism exist in second life in places like “The Boardroom” where if you are black you will be called the N word 100 times in the space of 20 mins or whether because you’re a trans woman you will be told you look manly and laughed at many public places around second life, Discrimination exists in Second Life and no more than that of the Furry Community.
I want to give a shout out to a lovely creature by the name of Keith who was warm, genuine, and welcoming to a human on the search for answers. Change comes when those with passion can no longer hold their tongue my friend 😊
I want to leave you with this closing remark from the wonderful Raven, it grants us a glimmer of hope and reminds us the light is always stronger than the dark.
Raven Corvinus: “As someone who has operated a furry sim since 2016 it is my opinion that the harassment and gatekeeping has gotten better since then. I cannot remember the last time I had a hate group show up (yes there are hate groups still active on SL but that is expected. It’s the internet after all) However the furry community remains hurt over the earlier years and get fearful when a person that is not a part of the community shows up to furry sims. Even if they mean well and have done nothing, almost everyone has a freeze response and gets quiet. Work is needed on both sides to come together and not discriminate against one another. I don’t think there is a long-term solution. Some folks just have a lot of hate in their heart and don’t care to hurt others. It’s those that give majority a bad name. For all my time in SL, I have more memories of fun and feeling safe than I have feeling unwelcome and actively hated. I feel like if we focus on what is good it easily trumps the bad. It’s my belief that if you feel you don’t belong somewhere, then make a place where you do~ Much love to you all.
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