Media reports on alcohol and 'simulated sex' at NJ FurBQ
The New Jersey FurBQ, which has run since 2005, has been 'permanently' cancelled after allegations of 'simulated sex' between fursuiters and the presence of alcohol were raised at a town-hall meeting. Reports of the events have since appeared in local media.
The event, typically held bi-annually on the weekends of Memorial Day and Labor Day, was a fundraiser for the Twin “W” First Aid Squad, and was held May 26 on the grounds outside their premises, attracting "almost 200", including over thirty fursuiters. A few weeks later, organizers announced that there would be no further instances of the event.
An article in the Times of Trenton relates the allegations; those concerning alcohol were commented on by the major of West Windsor Township. The matter has also been raised by a local Fox affiliate, using footage appropriated from a furry fan.
80 donors have since given almost $3000 to the squad – ten times the amount reportedly raised at the FurBQ itself. However, this is a small fraction of the funds formerly donated by the township, and now at risk.
Emphasis: No evidence has been provided to substantiate the claim of inappropriate activity; the media reports are based on claims by town officials, and now-withdrawn FA journals.
The FurBQ promised:
5 LIVE DJs!, fursuit games, lawn and party games, private headless lounge with A/C and water!, Razor's Food Court, [and] Shortwave's 'Tiki' Bar (full service liquor and beer)
Judging by the event announcement and preliminary advice, alcohol was served to those over 21 with ID. Similarly, while the alleged photographs have yet to emerge, it is not unknown for costumed furs to playfully act as if having sex in the company of other furs, even without being drunk. Fursuiters were recorded clearly having a good time on an obscenity-filled video. The prior year also saw a fire truck pulled by a fursuiter.
In a now-withdrawn journal, event co-organizer Razor Wulff made several statements which influenced the story in the media:
Yes, there is graphic photographic evidence of "inappropriate fursuit extra-curriculars" taking place on a vehicle, in front of the building in broad daylight during the BBQ. There were kids and a town council member who witnessed this. The pictures were filed at a PUBLIC town council meeting and are now being investigated by the Mayor, Chief of Police, and the squad.
No evidence of these claims has been provided, and the presence of the council member at the event has been denied by another attendee. Nevertheless, this initial report elicited strong reactions from furs – over 800 comments in four hours, including members of staff from Confuzzled and Camp Feral who sought the two fursuiters' identities so that they could be banned from future events.
Razor also initially said that:
Not only were [the squad] the subject of humiliation at a public town meeting but $55,000 was stripped from their annual budget and they are no longer receiving the "go ahead" to order 2 new ambulances...which the squad was pressing for in order to remain in service.
The Times of Trenton subsequently reported that $45,000 was donated annually to the Twin "W" by the Township, recently raised from $30,000. Township attorney Mike Herbert was quoted as saying that "[this inappropriate behavior] will never happen again, and if it does, then the relationship between the township and the Twin W will have to be re-evaluated" – implying that it may not yet have been materially altered.
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GreenReaper (Laurence Parry) — read stories — contact (login required)a developer, editor and Kai Norn from London, United Kingdom, interested in wikis and computers
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Comments
HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!
Good job to the fuck heads who caused all this. Not only did you ruin a nice, little get together, but there's a chance a small number of furs could lose their jobs. Shame we still can't tar and feather people.
The thing is... we don't even know if these 'fuck heads' exist or if they're some sort of made-up strawman that someone created and got a life of their own. What I've seen and heard of this event, the complaints and evidence seem to be about what would normally happen at a typical large party on a holiday weekend - the only difference and only reason this has gotten into the news is because some folks are wearing animal costumes.
Then logically, if this is due to made-up strawmen, the "fuck heads who caused all this" would be the people who made up those strawmen, and THOSE rumormongers are the people we should go after. >:3 (Note that I have no evidence either way beyond what has been presented in the article, and as such am trying to keep this strictly hypothetical and neutral.)
Smile! The world could use another happy person.
So now not only are the furries responsible for the behavior of other furries, we're also responsible for the behavior of the non-furries around us? Jusssst great...
I say have a good time, act reasonably responsible and mature, and to hell with what others think. Seriously, if we worried that others might be uncomfortable by the fandom then there'd be no fandom. The media will chime in once in awhile with the occasional odd story about us because let's face it - furry is weird; however, just like an episode of Jerry Springer... there's always an even more outrageous episode about something else on tomorrow - they'll forget and move on to some other bit of ratings grabber if we don't bite... too hard at least ;)
If these events were true then those irresponsible furs who did such behavior would need to be confronted and banned from any such further gatherings because we need to police our own if there's to be any semblance of order in this fandom of ours; if these events were a concoction of gossip on overdrive, political games, or an overactive imagination then such things need to be confronted with the facts rather than let to run and grown on their own where... they seem to eventually lead to media coverage.
If the truth is on our side then we need to speak up and embarrass those who hope to slander us unchallenged.
Either way, this is very bad.
Supposedly there are witnesses of these individuals behaving inappropriately in broad daylight on public grounds.
I would fully support any such behavior if within private hotel grounds, especially within private paid-for hotel rooms, and supporting the local economy, but this was no hotel room.
Heaven is not a place, it's being with people who love you.
Meanwhile some furs are skeptical that the alleged 'simulated sex' has actually taken place, and argues that furries should stop being apologetic.
In the news clip I watched, the reporters mention a 'simulated sexual act' which I take to be either as extreme as some mock humping to something as innocent as hugging. The whole issue with the supposed photo becomes even more important I think - the whole drama hinges on what exactly that photo shows (if it even exists) because they pretty much condemned the whole party based on that one alleged act. The photo seemed to me to be a red herring, I don't think it exists but everything the followed about this incident stemmed from that one thing.
The news clip I saw seemed to focus more on the drinking and amount of people - but even the reporters were like 'what's the big deal?' Indeed, there was no mention of any damage and no evidence at all of what they kept saying as too much drinking (the video clips I'd seen showed some obscenities but really... so what?).
They mention the embarrassment of this party but where are the interviews with people that were supposedly working there and made uncomfortable by it? I'd attended the FurBQ last year and saw no people working there that weekend - I'd not be surprised no one working there was within sight of the festivities. As for any neighbors? The place is behind back of a building with trees and a large parking lot on both sides - you go looking for the party with some effort then you'd see stuff but only if you're going out of your way to view it.
This whole incident is a mountain out of a molehill. The complaints are so minor as to be laughable and yet the consequences are very real and damaging.
Here's what I think could have happened (hypothetical here), someone who wanted to cut the funding from the budget hoped to squeeze some concessions (or just didn't like the idea of this weird group hanging around there) and got the bright idea that something really terrible must be going on at this furry party because hey, it's furry and they're known for that crap. Someone saw or heard about or maybe just guessed there was some fursuit shenanigans going on and came up with the idea of a photo so horrible that the mere threat of showing it would get them anything they want - it got them what they want but then the media got whiff of it and now they're focussing on the drinking because they can't prove anything else - but even the videos show nothing more than people milling around (notice it's just the fursuits and not actually anything they claim to be the problem with the party).
Do we even known if there's the 'simulated sexual act' that was offhandedly mentioned in the news? That might be nothing but gossip given life as well. They didn't push that aspect in the news clip which I would think would be more troubling (and ratings grabber too!), they pushed the whole drinking angle - but it's a freakin' private party and if there was excessive drinking then where are the consequences of that? You don't hear anything about damages, no fights, no trouble with neighbors or workers... it's all a non-issue that is only getting any sort of attention because some people attending are in mascot uniforms. They mention people working there being possibly uncomfortable - no interviews with them? Neighbors being annoyed or disgusted, no interviews or statements? It's just the mayor, who I understand would not want to deal with this so he's giving them exactly what you would expect as a reaction. Frustrating is the least of it.
I have added text to emphasize that no concrete evidence of such an act has been made public, and a link to a journal which addresses specific media allegations.
http://img.lulz.net/src/IMAG1139.jpg
Lulz.net makes you stupid.
Lawl... I was at the very recent furry party this was taken at.
404'd
Heaven is not a place, it's being with people who love you.
I at least got a mention. Almost disappointed it's all fake. All that drama over nothing. You'd think people would actually bother to confirm these things before making posts about how terrible things were and all the consequences. Suppose I should have found it odd when the pictures weren't shown in the first place. Shouldn't believe things with no evidence to support them.
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Get those pictures. If they aren't what they said they are, it's grounds for a defamation lawsuit. I would donate $300 for such a lawsuit.
Fuck moralistic puritans. Fuck them all.
my money is yours. let's get those bastards.
Heaven is not a place, it's being with people who love you.
Bad things should be hated.
Oh no! What happen? Was there a murder scene!? Was something stolen? Did people get over drunk and caused real trouble (Property issues and actual harm)? Was someone actually you know, hurt?!
Oh wait, its just this. Although the drinking might mean something but doesn't if it doesn't hurt anyone. And yet, this might be legal.
You know, if no one was hurt here, and this report in a "crime" like view was based on crappy so called "Moral" beliefs and has nothing to do with real trouble, then what a waste of time. (If they did do that one act or got drunk but did nothing painful then under science, it wouldn't matter because no one is hurt.)
Oh yeah, I was mainly concern about all this fear over "Simulated sex" (and yet, if it was true, it might of been just a couple out of half 1000). But everyone took it way too far. And a little concern about drinking.
I don't want to sound mean, but when ever I have a feeling to check this website for news, I get a bad sense in my stomach, no, I can't help it, it just happens for a lot of reasons. One has something to do with ridiculous fear over nothing (This article report seems to bring it back up?).
If there were about 200 attendees there could at most be about 100 couples.
Well, 100, 2 couples idk. :P
If a couple did that one thing or not, all I can say it isn't a problem just as long if no one was hurt. But yet, people took all too far anyway and promoted unusual fear in all I think.
if a couple grinded a bit while drunk, it's no different than if any other couple publically displayed affection -- and the law should reflect that fact.
whether they are wearing fursuits at the time doesnt really matter, unless there's some mask bylaw, but that's a completely different allegation.
Heaven is not a place, it's being with people who love you.
Lol,just reading this makes me laugh,Who gives a huskiebutt if someone was drinking underaged..it's not like anyone was hurt..this f***ing country is full of puritan nutjobs..the same thing about simulated sex...I mean who gives a f***..so what if some furs were humping eachother..I would probably find it hot tbh.And on top of all that they don't even have any evidence..Furs are Furs..Furs will have fun
An interesting comment from Ron Overdrive regarding the talk of alcohol:
wow, that's messed up. so they had NOTHING on us?
Heaven is not a place, it's being with people who love you.
Posting now might be necromancy on my part, but I need to share this insight.
You're pulled over by a cop after you drift through an intersection. He hands you a ticket. The ticket reads speeding. You blurt out "Speeding?? I thought this was about running the red light!" The cop then takes the ticket back and ADDS the red light running citation and hands it back to you to sign.
The politicians accused us of "inappropriate behavior", then waited to see who we would finger. An old, dirty trick. It failed, we couldn't even bring out a case of indecent drunkenness.
...I was about to say that a furry meet which successfully upheld a genuinely Puritanical standard likely blew these politicians minds, but I bite my tongue on that. They're sociopaths, a 12 guage shotgun to their heads wouldn't invoke "mind blowing" feelings from them, feeding them into a wood chipper feet first wouldn't invoke feelings of suffering from them, the 9'th level of hell wouldn't make them feel anything but bland emptiness even though that is where they belong... just my opinion.
Twin "W" volunteers are now banned from using township equipment, resulting in paid township staff working night shifts.
Not quite sure how this works out as a positive for the township; presumably they have to pay for that. From what the mayor said, it seems like they want to hold the volunteers to the same regulations as employees.
From recent conversations with other NJ furs, it seems the local politicians like paid EMT's because every ambulance call puts money in the treasury.
Politicians and people in power use dirty tricks to get what they want, if the rules are just inconvenient.
More money changing hands could involve dealings with unions, politicians wanting to point at spending to justify higher budgets, one politician wanting another's territory, someone getting kickbacks, a private company involved (someone's brother in law profiting from the spending)... I have no idea what. Inventing a scandal justifies a power move, and helps squash dissent (forget the cost to the town.) Maybe someone was out looking for a reason to change the rules of this organization, or maybe someone wanted to get noticed and bid for a promotion. Furries having a party made a convenient scapegoat.
The claim about "unseemly" photos with no photos ever shown smells like a lie. "zero-tolerance stance"? More like "zero-evidence stance"!
Moralistic accusations involving sex are the modern form of yelling "witch!"
And, yet, there are no images or viewable videos to back up this claim. I think this issue is dumb, pictures should've been released to a portion of the attendees so they could vote on the validity. This is all bull shit. To think that here I was, hoping to go to an NJ FurBQ, but nope, they had to be stupid and make possibly false assumptions. Even if this information is true, people should've used common sense anyway, and not preformed "simulated sex". At least not in the public!
When someone lobs a damaging claim, it's up to them to back it up with proof... not the accused to prove it DIDN'T happen.
When the politicians claim to have pictures of "immoral" activity, and benefit from damaging people with accusations, yet refuse to show supposed proof... we can confidently say they never had any, and call them cowardly liars.
The West Windsor 'Twin W' Rescue Squad was shut down Tuesday night after an agreement went unsigned. There's some back and forth in the article about who's fault it is, but the upshot is that whoever takes on their role will have to find another building, and someone is going to have to pay for it. (Probably local taxpayers, directly or indirectly.)
Tax payers pay for Obamacare, Obamacare pays for local government ambulance rides, Tax payers pay more for Obamacare. Aw well, more money for Jersey.
These days job of the state's is to stand united and siphon as much money out of the federal chauffeurs as possible.
But you know, they really didn't need our help in this endeavor. If they were more honest and just said "Hey, the local township wants to this new way! It'll make us more independent and make the local government money instead of losing it supplying equipment to the volunteers." made their case and had people vote on it, wouldn't have taken them so long as this shock and awe crap.
It's sad that politicians don't believe in their own ability to sell their ideas on their own merits. So instead look for a way to defame and distract to obtain what they desire. I would dare not even call them politicians, for they don't run on policy, but instead exploit fallacy.
About the story, on the anniversary:
https://dogpatchpress.wordpress.com/2015/05/26/new-jersey-fur-b-que-hoax/
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