But it’s being used as a dogwhistle because flurries are weird.
And because furries are often associated with sexual deviance and BDSM, etc, in discussions and I can see how it's in the interests of gender ideologues to promote the spread of furries to anger morally conservative groups who oppose gender ideology for broadly different reasons from people viewing it from a gender critical perspective.
This is helpful in denouncing gender critical views because then gender ideologues can point to the "moral panic" around furries and liken it to the "moral panic" around gender ideology and trans issues. Which means that valid concerns around women's rights can be more readily dismissed as mere moral conservatism.
In reality, the furry movement isn't that weird at all - in the article, the young person describes dressing up, sharing memes and chats with other young people, meeting up in costume, etc, just like any young person might do with any other kind of LARPing or being a goth or emo or footballer or any other similar teen hobby or interest.
It feels like people within the movement perhaps want it to be perceived as special and radical, but in reality, it's just teenagers and young people building a sense of community around their interests, just like they've always done. They're no more special or in need of protection than the concert band kids or the chess club as a distinct class of people.