I’ve never understood the furry hate. People treat it as a kink akin to someone being into taking a shit on your stomach. Except somehow worse.
It’s not my thing, but I’ve known people who are into it and they’ve all been nice people. I hung out with a bunch of them one of the times I was working at a con and they were fun people to hang around when they were out of their fursuits. And yeah, I didn’t quite know how to react to them when they were in the fursuit, but I just stayed friendly. That seemed to be fine with them.
Also, being a “furry” is remarkably easy. Are you a fan of anthropomorphic animals? Congrats, you’re a furry. It doesn’t require you to wear a fursuit or anything else. That means that if you’re in the fandom of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. You. Are. A. Furry.