Obama hangs out with furries! The proof is below. Mr. President, why are they so sexy?

This tiny subculture has more influence than many members even realize. The topic grew from a furry influence article that drew extra high traffic: (Mainstream advertising: “More and more, Furries are being hinted at in marketing media.”) Advertisers covet “street cred”, and subcultures have it. Even tiny notices show a subculture on the rise.

Now, many people want to know: Are there any secret furry celebrities? Who likes furries in the mainstream? Here’s a Buzzfeed-esque topic that will fluff your fur, or raise your hackles!

PART 1) – Politicians and VIP’s.

PART 2) – Actors, comedians, and media personalities.

PART 3) – Musicians.

This is a non-fandom list. And OK, “celebrifurry” is exaggerating. Almost none have “come out of the kennel” as BEING furry. Keep low expectations. This is “15 seconds of fame” encounters, coincidences, and near-rumors. Celebrity confessions of cartoon crushes can make the list (because getting hot for Robin Hood is a Thing.) The list also has some animal costuming that hints about association. But let’s avoid lazy exploitation (like talk shows or Howard Stern), because they’d exploit any group with little recognition beyond stereotypes – and you’ve seen all that hype before. Many of these items are overlooked or ambiguous, so it makes a short, incomplete list. This is as good as it gets so far… but wait until there’s a fursuit political campaign.

Politicians and VIP’s

Historical trivia about Winston Churchill – “The Last Lion”.

That’s the title of his biography. Furry writer Phil Geusz has a “Paleo Furries” article that reveals astonishing details about Churchill: He “owned and loved to play with children in a fursuit (gorilla), and exchanged what looks very much like modern furry RP letters with his wife.” This is obviously just a footnote of pre-Furry history, but it shows how people in the political theater can have a hidden love for fictional role-playing.

Fur meet with President Barack Obama – America’s Giraffe-in-Chief.

“Lindz” is known to a few friends as a Furry fandom member who uses a Blotch avatar on Facebook. He’s more widely known as an inventor and “Burner”. The Burning Man festival is where he brings Russell the Electric Giraffe, an anthropomorphic art/tech project. An introduction video says:

Lindsay Lawlor once attended Burning Man in a full-sized Giraffe suit, until one day a friend of his suggested he build a mechanical giraffe from metal, electronics, and a slew of flashing LED lights…

Califur and Further Confusion have hosted Lindz and Russell. Then in June 2014, the White House held a “Maker Faire” on it’s lawn. Lindz was invited to bring Russell, and meet the President. Their meeting is on video from ABC News. Obama even mentioned the Giraffe in his speech that day. A San Diego Tribune story hinted about Obama’s own fursona:

Obama looked at the giraffe and said he liked its ears. Lawlor said it took him a moment to realize that the president might have felt a kinship with the giraffe. “When you see Obama in profile, he’s all ears,” he said.

Add this to The Onion’s reporting about our nerd/hipster president.

The Mayor of Pittsburgh: The most enthusiastically furry-friendly VIP.

The mayor hangs out at Anthrocon, wrote a welcome letter for the con book, and declared an official “Anthrocon Day.” Uncle Kage has worked very hard to set up close relationships with the city – I’m sure he has a secret bat-phone to his office.

The mayor of Pittsburgh has officially proclaimed July 5th, 2014, Anthrocon Day! How freaking cool is that?!? pic.twitter.com/2mNwpqo37a — Novaris (@NovarisHusky) July 5, 2014

Louis Farrakhan’s Furry Con – the craziest one on this list, topped off with elevator farting.

How does a controversial anti-gay, antisemitic, Black Separatist leader share a hotel with Trans-Species furries?

Even without bonus entertainment from fluffy things, this Time Magazine cover guy and Million Man March leader is a gold mine of gloriously crazy quotes. “The Mother Wheel is a heavily armed spaceship the size of a city, which will rain destruction upon white America but save those who embrace the Nation of Islam.”

Here’s the story from “DaSkunk” on Reddit:

Louis Farrakhan was in the room down the hall from ours at FWA this year. It both made for some funny stories and was very uncomfortable. It was just very awkward. We didn’t know who it was at first and had to figure it out over the course of the convention. We were on a suite floor, top level of the hotel so it was very separated out from all the other rooms. He basically had 1/4th of the floor blocked off with security guards sitting 24/7 making sure you couldn’t walk down the hall toward him.. Well.. One sat RIGHT at the corner where we had to walk by to go to the elevator, so he sneered at us every time we went to the room and back. We eventually figured out who it was by understanding what the flag emblems on the security uniforms were combined with watching the news. He gave a speech that night in Atlanta elsewhere. Only real interesting moments were at one point a security guard was on an elevator with a very effeminate black furry that was apparently whining about something frivolous being so difficult.. and the security guard said “Alright.. that’s enough.. I’m getting off”, hit a floor button and exited before the ground level. Then at another point a friend was coming up the elevator.. 100% empty elevator and he had privacy so he farted. Hey a tree in the forest doesn’t make a noise right? Well.. gets to the top floor, doors open and Louis is standing there right about to get on the elevator.. Lol. It was just awkward, not enjoyable. We’ve had other fun moments like Gabriel Inglesias and Margaret Cho that find themselves at furry cons and just have a blast with it posting pictures on twitter and stuff.

Former U.S. Congressman David Wu (D-OR) emailed a photo of himself in a tiger suit to his staffers, who were very worried about his mental health.

Wu was said to be good at his job. He resigned in the wake of a sex scandal, involving allegations that could have been very embarrassing, but were never proven with charges. Instead, the media chose to focus on “weird” behavior like sending emails late at night with the costume photo. (But, it was Halloween!)

There is never a good reason for anyone to be dressed up as a tiger, unless he is employed by Disney to promote the Winnie the Pooh movie, and even then you ought to ask for identification of some kind. No matter what job you want done, I guarantee that someone not wearing a tiger suit is better suited for it than someone who is.

Baloney! Furries are full of talent, and come from all walks of life. The buyer of the record-setting highest priced $11,575 fursuit is a fighter pilot (with a reputation for being a sweetheart.) Doesn’t this say something about judgementalism?

Arizona gubernatorial candidate Scott Malcomson was stigmatized for Furriness in a Greenwich Village Gazette column.

It’s an old, small piece of drama to add as a footnote. The graymuzzle artist, founder and chair of ZonieCon had media attacks as a Furry political candidate.

Malcomson was the Arizona candidate for governor in 1998… Malcomson is more famous on the Internet though, as a member of furry fandom, a subset of people who enjoy playing anthropomorphic animals and drawing pictures of them. On FurryMUCK, an interactive computer environment, Malcomson is Roy, and Roy is a balloonicorn.

In Part 2: Johnny Depp – Seth Green – Andrew WK – Margaret Cho – and more!