Fursuit Adventures: Community Standards
Introduction
What are Community Standards?
Our Community Standards are laid out in this document, and clearly outline our expectations for all members, guests, and admins – our responsibility to you and each other, guidance on how to resolve disputes, proper practices and more.
The expectation isn’t for every single member to read the entirety of this document, but for it to be a place to refer to when those needs arise. This will ensure we moderate, behave and interact with each other in a consistent way to ensure Fursuit Adventures is a safe and comfortable place for everyone who participates.
When does it apply?
We expect everybody to follow the Community Standards when:
- Participating in Fursuit Adventures’ online and in-person events, as a fursuiter, handler, photographer, supporter, etc
- Interacting in online Fursuit Adventures’ spaces, including Telegram, Discord, and Twitter
The admins will do their best to ensure this environment is maintained, but cannot control or take responsibility for behavior encountered outside of our official events and spaces.
Who enforces the Community Standards?
The administration will enforce Community Standards in all our channels. However, we expect members to hold each other accountable, as well as admins and event organizers. If you see behavior that is contrary to these standards, ask them to stop, and/or immediately tell an admin or volunteer. This will help create a safe and fair environment for everyone.
Too Long; Didn’t Read
These act as a summary of our rules but consult the relevant sections for more information and examples.
Discrimination and Harassment
TL;DR: No discrimination, harassment, or unwanted sexual advances. Treat members with respect, including respect for their gender and identity. Costumes do not equal consent.
Adult or Sexual Content
TL;DR: Save adult content for explicitly permitted events and chats.
Handling Expectations
TL;DR: Help our fursuiting friends, be mindful of their limitations, and be aware of signs of distress.
Act and Dress Appropriately
TL;DR No intoxication, violence or inappropriate props. No excessive swearing or discussions of sexual content in public. Family Friendly apparel only unless otherwise noted.
Do Your Part
TL;DR: Sign up for events, help out if you can, offer to handle if there are too many suiters, leave spaces as clean and tidy as you arrived.
Respect Everybody’s Privacy
TL;DR: Don’t share pictures of non-suiters or anybody’s information without consent. Refer to
members using their character or preferred names.
Play By the Rules
TL;DR: Follow these Community Standards, Society Rules, Event Rules, as well as Provincial and Federal Laws.
Key Values
This is a summary of how we expect everybody to behave and guides the remainder of the Community Standards.
- Look after, care for, respect, and support one another
- Encourage a safe, accepting and friendly environment
- Make an effort to include group members
- Be mindful of people’s boundaries
- Present a fun and playful space to fursuit
- Follow relevant guidance to ensure that everyone is treated fairly
Discrimination and Harassment
TL;DR: No discrimination, harassment, or unwanted sexual advances. Treat members with respect, including respect for their gender and identity. Costumes do not equal consent.
Everyone who engages in our spaces should be able to do so, free from discriminatory behavior, and be treated with fairness and respect. In addition, we have zero tolerance for harrasment, bullying, and unwanted sexual advances toward both members and guests.
This is a space for people of diverse sexual orientations, sexualities, genders and ethnicities – including presentation, identity, and pronouns.
Members should feel safe telling someone to stop a behavior that makes them uncomfortable, otherwise, reach out to the volunteer team.
Fursuiting can be really fun, but please remember that there is a human being under that costume. Costumes do not equal consent. Always ask before entering a fursuiter’s personal space. Simply extending your arms out and gesturing for a hug is often enough and you must respect the suiter’s decision if they decide to decline your request.
We acknowledge that the administration team is in a position of influence within the group. With that, we take into consideration how their actions may be interpreted, and ensure a clear delineation between their actions as an individual and their actions as a member of the administration team.
| ✔️ Acceptable behavior | ❌ Unacceptable behavior |
| -Talking to members you haven’t spoken to before -Politely asking for someone’s contact details after you have spoken with them and mutually get along at an event -Speaking to each other with respect, and using requested pronouns | -Any form of racism, sexism, or other discrimination -Deliberate misgendering or deadnaming -Hugging a fursuiter without permission -Persistent/repeated unwelcome questions about someone’s identity -Continuing to speak to someone after they ask you to stop -Yelling at or losing your temper at other members -Unsolicited/unexpected sexual advancesAbuse of any power dynamics or positions |
Adult or Sexual Content
TL;DR: Save adult content for explicitly permitted events and chats.
Adult and sexual content intended for people 18+ are only permitted in our designated 18+ chats and at events that explicitly state that adult content is allowed.
Please use the following tables as guidelines for acceptable adult content in the various chats and events:
| ✔️ All-age friendly Chat & Events |
| -Objective conversations about sex suitable for ages 13+ -Mild innuendo -Jokes or media with incidental sexual content |
| ✔️ Mature(18+) Chat & Events |
| -Nudity or sexual content (where there is in-context explicit sexualized content, please use a Spoiler tag) -Descriptions of sex acts -Sexually-suggestive poses, even while clothed |
| ❌ Permitted at no time in any chats or events |
| -Promoting your OnlyFans or other adult streaming/sharing links -Illegal content -Sharing explicit artwork depicting minors, cubs and/or non-anthros -Out of context or excessive pornography -Sharing anybody else’s explicit messages, or intimate content of any kind without consent |
Handling Expectations
TL;DR: Help our fursuiting friends, be mindful of their limitations, and be aware of signs of distress.
Goofing around with adorable characters in costume can be an absolute blast, but there are some things you must keep in mind when handling our fursuiters.
At the start of an event, select one or two fursuiters to be your “Buddy” and stick together like glue. Keep an eye on your fursuiter and if you must leave the main group, that is OK, but please tell the appropriate people.
In addition to overheating quickly (As they’re wearing something akin to a winter parka in the sun) fursuiters usually experience the following limitations:
- Poor peripheral vision
- Lack of hearing
- Inability to move quickly
At regular intervals, ask our fursuit friends how they’re feeling and whether they need water. If they indicate lightheadedness or any indication of heat stroke, immediately help them to safety so they can remove their head. If it’s an emergency, please help them to remove their head immediately. Our fursuiter’s health and safety is far more important than breaking character.
When interacting with the general public, put yourself between the fursuiters and them. Doing this ensures that the public will ask for permission before approaching the fursuiters. In addition, make sure nobody tries to sneak up behind a fursuiter or tries to pull their tail (Especially children). Children are also prone to dirty or mucky hands and faces. Try to keep an eye out for these instances to prevent suiters from getting stained. One last note regarding children, under no circumstances, should fursuiters ever hold children, even if their parents ask you to (And trust me, they ask all the time).
When in the presence of fursuiters, it’s also important to ensure the space in front of them is safe for them to move into. If you notice an obstacle on the ground they may trip on, please notify or help them. Sometimes it may be necessary to hold a fursuiter’s paw and guide them. Offer to help and of course, respect their decision if they decline. There should always be a person, not in a costume, toward the front of the group guiding the group to ensure nobody gets lost or left behind.
If you’re not in a costume, try to avoid being in the shot while others are taking pictures of fursuiters.
More details can be found in our handler’s guide which will be released at a later date.
| ✔️ Acceptable behavior | ❌ Unacceptable behavior |
| -Positioning yourself in front of fursuiters to herd the general public -Regularly reminding the fursuiters to drink water -Guiding fursuiters when walking and ensuring they see all obstacles | -Encouraging children to touch or pull any part of our fursuiters -Allowing parents to hand fursuiters their children -Permitting the public to touch fursuiters without consent -Losing your assigned fursuiter |
Act and Dress Appropriately
TL;DR: No intoxication, violence or inappropriate props. No excessive swearing or discussions of sexual content in public. Family-friendly apparel only unless otherwise noted
Most of our events occur in public spaces with people not in our group. In these spaces, it’s important that we act and dress in a manner that is appropriate for families of all ages. Not only does this avoid potential conflict, but it also increases our credibility and makes people continue to invite us to join their spaces. It also helps create a positive image toward furries and fursuiters which aids greatly toward our mission of maintaining a positive relationship with the general public.
- No real weapons, nerf guns, or realistic props that depict weapons. If you’re unsure, please ask
- No drinking or being under the influence of drugs during events
- No excessive swearing or discussing sexual content in the presence of the general public
- No pulling on harnesses or collars
- No violent behavior toward anyone for any reason (Playful exchanges are acceptable as long as both parties are consenting)
Apparel Guidelines:
| ✔️ Acceptable | ❌ Unacceptable (Unless Private Event) |
| -Collars -Fabric harnesses on fursuits -Badges depicting SFW artwork | -Pup Hoods -Leashes -Leather/BDSM harnesses -Harnesses on non-suiters -Provocative or revealing clothing |
Do Your Part
TL;DR: Sign up for events, help out if you can, offer to handle if there are too many suiters, leave spaces as clean and tidy as you arrived.
When an event is posted, select your role and attend the event on time at the meeting location. If you’re going to be late, message the group/handlers to assess if arrangements can be made for you to join. If you later can’t attend the event, detract your role selection as soon as possible. Many events have a limit to the members that can go and it’s not fair for others or the event organizers if you cancel at the last minute.
Sometimes, there are too many fursuiters attending an event and not enough handlers. In those cases, we reserve the right to deny a member from wearing their fursuit on a first come first served basis and instead ask if they would be willing to help handle instead.
If an event is full, do not show up regardless or bring additional people with you. Often, these restrictions are placed by the Event Directors that our leaders work with to get ourselves into the event. It would affect our reputation to go against that.
Make sure when arriving/departing at an event to check in with the group to ensure that we have an accurate list of attendees.
When taking part in our events, please also have your membership badge visible at all times (Memberships are to be released at a later date). If you decide to attend an event on your own accord, please do not display your Fursuit Adventures Membership as you are not suiting under the group.
To host successful events, Fursuit Adventures needs to maintain healthy relationships with event organizers to welcome us back. Please help us out at the end of events by leaving the space cleaner than how you found it.
A lot of our events take place outside in public settings. Please use common sense in these environments to avoid disrupting other people or disturbing the peace:
- No yelling or screaming
- No littering
- No destruction of public property
| ✔️ Acceptable behavior | ❌ Unacceptable behavior |
| -Canceling your ticket/RSVP early if you can no longer attend -Arriving on time for the event start time -Volunteer and offer to assist the admins and help out where you can | -Applying to events you cannot attend -Treating venue staff in a way contrary to this Community Standards -No showing at an event -Showing up late to an event without contacting the appropriate group members -Suiting separate from the group wearing the Fursuit Adventures Membership |
Respect Everybody’s Privacy
TL;DR: Don’t share pictures of non-suiters or anybody’s information without consent. Refer to members using their character or preferred names.
It’s a prevalent practice for fursuiters to not want to have their faces or bodies shown when they’re not in costume. Always ask before doing anything with photos of people not in costume. Taking pictures of fursuiters changing is prohibited.
We respect that members will have different boundaries regarding how much of their identity is shared in different communities, so it’s important to ensure you have consent if you want to discuss members or share images.
As furries, we like to be called by our aliases (Or character names). Should you ever discover or come across a person’s real name, you should never call them by it in public unless they explicitly allow it. You should also never share these details on social media.
| ✔️ Acceptable behavior | ❌ Unacceptable behavior |
| -Posting photos containing suiters and tagging the photographer -Mentioning the @furventures Twitter page when posting photos from an event we are attending -Referring to members using their character names | -Sharing private communications attributed to a member or non-member without consent -Talking about another member’s sexual or gender identity without explicit consent, whether within or outside of Fursuit Adventures -Sharing photos of people not in costume without consent -Posting/sharing real names with addresses, or phone numbers -Streaming Fursuit Adventures events to public streams e.g. Twitch/YouTube |
Play By the Rules
TL;DR: Follow these Community Standards, Society Rules, Event Rules, as well as Provincial and Federal Laws.
We expect all members to follow all applicable rules and laws. The administration will take action to enforce these when necessary. If you have concerns about these Community Standards, please contact the admin team – however, you must continue to follow the current standards until any decision is made.
Canada’s and British Columbia’s laws apply at all events.
| ✔️ Acceptable behavior | ❌ Unacceptable behavior |
| -Talking to other members that exhibit unacceptable behavior, to help them improve -Bringing issues and feedback to admins and moderators | -Continuing behavior that an admin or volunteer has asked you to stop -Breaching health regulations or provincial requirements in regards to event safety -Breaching our Community Standards -Attending events when you have been asked not to |
Social Media & Chat Rules
There are various rules for our Telegram, Discord and Twitter that must be followed by all members:
- No excessive spam.
- Admins reserve the right to remove people from the group, under their discretion, if someone is disruptive of the group.
- Conversations that take place in the chat should not be shared outside the group
- Advertisements are allowed once per day.
- Members with complaints against other community members should direct any allegations to our “Have a Complaint or Incident to Report?” form, or to an Administrator directly through Telegram.
- If you’re looking to be featured on our social media, please ensure your social media pages are strictly all-age friendly.
Enforcement
The administration team will review any alleged breaches to standards as a group as soon as possible. The breacher, depending on the severity of the breach may receive a review based on our Code of Conduct which may include disciplinary action such as below:
- Being asked to cease the behavior
- Being asked to acknowledge hurt caused or apologize
- Being removed or muted from voice channels
- Being asked to immediately leave an event
- Non-renewal or revocation of the membership
- A suspension from Fursuit Adventures for a set time or until defined criteria are met
- A full ban from Fursuit Adventures, including in-person events and all social media
Repetitive breaches will be taken into account during the review process.
Decision Making
When the admins review any alleged breaches, the following will be taken into consideration:
- Do any admins have conflicting existing relationships with anybody involved? If so, they should recuse themselves for conflict of interest.
This would include any current or former partners, as well as close friends/friends they regularly see outside of Fursuit Adventures, roommates, or any other relationships that exist outside of the group. - Was the behavior accidental or intentional?
- Was the behavior repeated?
- Have they breached any other rules?
- What harm was caused and can it be remediated with an apology or reconciliation?
Administrators are empowered to take any action that they deem necessary to resolve immediate situations. In such situations, the administrator should take the least restrictive measure possible in the circumstances and should remain consistent with the Community Standards.
Photography and Social Media Usage, Rights, and Ownership:
- All photos taken should be uploaded to the Fursuit Adventures events repository (coming soon)
- Photos you take are owned by you, but we reserve the right to edit, post, and distribute photos taken in our group for non-commercial purposes/advertisement
- All fursuiters who have attended an event agree to have their fursuit shared on social media or similar for advertising purposes