It's no wonder the mob gets their pitch forks up every time a fetish is displayed in connection with the fandom. Society tells us to keep our private stuff private. The only people that flaunt it in public are derelict perverts and nobody wants to be aligned with that by association. Furry blurs these boundaries because it's such an open and accepting culture.
Cons like FC are now pulling in fetishists that arn't even furries and I do dislike that.
I really don't know what to say to all this other than 'people's people.' What'ever you saw some furry doing online I gaurentee there's a 500k non-furries doing something 10x worse. One of the reasons people like the furry community is because it is extremely tolerant and accepting. Because of that people feel more comfortable sharing things publicly they might normally keep private. I'll admit some of the things I see make me uncomfortable. But if it's in an adult venue, whatever, let people have their fun so long as they are not forcing it on you or hurting anyone. I've seen far worse at just about every college party I've ever been too than any furry event.
The problem arises in what is considered an adult venue. I would argue the public con space is NOT. There are minors, kids and parents that shouldn't be subjected to that. Keep it in the clubs, bars and rooms. Even a con dance at 2am has minors on the floor surrounded by sex, drugs and rock'n roll. Fursuits or not, people's people. I think cons need to choose real soon if they are going to make certain venues 21/18+ or tighten the code of conduct because this is a potential time bomb that could really hurt the fandom. The tolerance and openness the fandom has become famous for may be its downfall.
Oh on the topic of 'eww, mursuits' that hotel bed your sleeping in, with the bedspread that's never been washed... your pretty much sleeping in a thousand mursuits. My point being that while the IDEA of having contact with a mursuiter may repulse you, in reality it's no different than the contact you have with people on a daily basis. Other people are just less open about where their hands have been so your not thinking about it. From a public health standpoint there really isn't any STD you can get from hugging a fursuit, no matter how crusty. Hard surfaces like doorknobs are much scarier.
The real reason to stay away from certain people is that they might not respect your boundaries or comfort zone.
Thats where I draw the line. I have a cute suit, I sometimes get attention from people I don't want and if someone's drunk and alot stronger than you it can be really scary. Especially since you can't see, hear or feel anything. This is one of the reasons I no longer hug people or have contact with people I don't know at cons.
Also think about this: Free hugs. I was watching Shadow Cheeta doing his free hug thing with the public and someone mentioned to me that they used to be a professional mascot at Disneyland. They said that they have to have their hands visible in every picture because of how regularly they get accused of inappropriate behavior. I wonder what kind of liability you expose yourself to with this hug culture.