DC furries—people who dress up as anthropomorphized animals—took part in the first-ever WMATA-approved “FurRide” on Saturday. Attendees gathered at the Franconia-Springfield Metro stop before riding the Blue line to the Smithsonian together for photographs and camaraderie.
The event drew more people than what the organizers had planned for, with roughly 35 furries in attendance, plus 10 handlers to assist with any overheating the costumes might cause, ensure everyone stayed hydrated, and keep attendees safe. The FurRide was coordinated by a software engineer who goes by the “fursona” Gladis Orca.
“FurRide was originally going to be a small event with just myself and one of my friends grabbing pictures with our costumes, called fursuits, on the Metro since I thought it would be a neat photo-op,” Gladis said. “Being a fan of public transit, and knowing there are plenty of others just like me within the furry community, I started sending invites to other friends before opening the invite via Twitter.”
Gladis reached out to WMATA for approval and figured she wouldn’t get a response back, but to her surprise, they welcomed the FurRide.
“Surprisingly, they said that they couldn’t find anything in their rules that would prohibit us from riding with our fursuits,” she said. “They alerted the station managers along our route that we would be passing through so there were no surprises.”
Among those in attendance was a 22-year old college student who uses the name Mr. Puffin when in his Arctic Puffin fursona. He joined the DC furry community three years ago with some friends and has been attending events in the Washington, DC, area ever since. This meet-up was his first on public transit.
“It was a bit amusing to see the different reactions that we were getting,” Mr. Puffin said. “We had, of course, a lot of side-eyes, but also some people who wanted to get pictures and were very positive.”
The group spent the afternoon on the Metro, chatting and getting to know each other. Attendees included people from all walks of life—from students to people in the military to a nurse.
“With this community, no two furries are ever alike,” Mr. Puffin said. “A whole bunch of different communities are clustered together to make this group. It’s incredibly unique.”
