Califur 2017

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Califur2017ProgramCover.jpg
Califur (edit)
FENEC
Califur 0 (2004)
Califur 1 (2005)
Califur 2 (2006)
Califur 3 (2007)
Califur 4 (2008)
Califur 5 (2009)
Califur 6 (2010)
Califur 7 (2011)
Califur 8 (2012)
Califur 9 (2013)
Califur 10 (2014)
Califur 2015
Califur 2016
Califur 2017
Califur 2018

Califur Diego
Califur Train

Califur staff
Califur guests of honor

Califur 2017 was the fourteenth iteration of the Califur convention. It was held over May 19-21, 2017,[1] moving into May to avoid clashing with Biggest Little Fur Con 2017 and to make use of cooler temperatures.[1] The venue was again the Fairplex Sheraton in Pomona, California.[2]

The theme for Califur 2017 was "Horror".[1]

The convention saw 1,393 attendees.[3]

Staff[edit]

The staff of Califur 2017 were:[4]

Controversy[edit]

Within 24 to 48 hours before the start of the event, the venue was flooded by calls (example) and Twitter messages regarding a panel about Babyfurs and BDSM.

The seriousness of the tone of the messages prompted the venue to increase the security fee by $25,000 and the demand for the con to strike the babyfur panel (also impacting the venue's concerns was a nearby PETA protest, which ended up being unrelated to the convention,[5] but caused law enforcement to be on the scene of the convention). Califur had the choice of canceling the con but went ahead and agreed to the terms.[6]

It was determined later that calls to the hotel were made by members from the AltFurry Discord, a Discord chat group for "Alt Furries", a social/political group who align themselves with alt-right ideologies and movements.[7][8] The attack was based on an Alt Furry Discord consensus that the babyfur panel was pedophilic in nature, and the group's founder, Len Gilbert/Furred Reich, has encouraged such tactics on his YouTube channel, since deleted.[citation needed] Also, the AltFurry Discord's Twitter (maintained by Len Gilbert) sent the hotel sexual cub-related art drawn by Jaga Fuxfell via Twitter, portraying it as an example of what would be featured in the panel.[9]

Alt Furry's management first tried to deny their involvement,[10] then downplay their hand in it,[11] finally blaming others for it.[12]

Some[who?] have mistakenly reported that the calls were part of a campaign by the Furry Raiders,[citation needed] due to the fact that Raiders leader, Foxler Nightfire, being associated both with the alt-right and with the AltFurry Discord,[citation needed] and there is some overlap of membership, but the groups are distinct, and Len Gilbert and his members are not Raiders.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Tweet on the Califur account on Twitter. Dated June 21, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2016.
  2. Califur website. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  3. Tweet on the Califur account on Twitter. Dated May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  4. Califur 2017 Head Staff on the Califur website. Archive dated February 26, 2017, on archive.org. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  5. "We were just informed by our venue and LAPD that PETA was not protesting CaliFur. They were protesting another event on fairplex." Tweet by @Califur. Retrieved July 5, 2017.
  6. CaliFur Statement Regarding Threats to Venue: Expanded post on Califur's Tumblr. Retrieved June 27, 2017
  7. Furry Raiders / AltFur / Rocky Mountain Fur Con GeneralFoxler's Group with Zoophiles, Pedophiles, Alt-Right furs, and General Degeneracy post on Kiwifarms.net. Retrieved June 27, 2017
  8. Who fucked over Califur?. Tweet by Deo. Retrieved June 27, 2017
  9. Archived tweet by @AltFurryDiscord. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  10. AltFurry Discord is not the source of the alleged 'threats' called into Califur. tweet by Alt Furry. Retrieved June 27, 2017
  11. Regarding what happened at CaliFur post on Fur Affinity. Retrieved June 27, 2017 (archived)
  12. I don't know who it was archived tweet by Alt Furry. Retrieved March 2, 2018

External links[edit]

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