Attendees of NordicFuzzCon 2020, the third largest European convention for furries, in Malmo, Sweden, 21 February 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE / Johan Nilsson

Tatarstan’s Commissioner for Children’s Rights has submitted a report to Russia’s State Duma recommending that various anthropomorphic subcultures be recognised as “LGBT propaganda”, journalist Ksenia Sobchak reported on Wednesday.

Irina Volynets, who authored the report, accused three subcultures; quadrobers, furries and therianthropes, of attempting to attract children and adolescents to the LGBT community, stressing that all three subcultures were Western imports and were part of a single movement rather than disparate phenomena.

All three subcultures have recently been used in scare stories run by Russian media outlets suggesting that the little-known fetishes are widely known and accepted in the West.

Quadrobics, which involves walking or running on all fours and imitating animal sounds and behaviour, is often portrayed as an athletic discipline, while furries — those fascinated by animals with human characteristics — and therianthropes, who believe that they were born into the wrong body and often identify as animals, are generally seen as sexual subcultures.

According to Volynets, the “international furry community” supports Ukraine and sponsors its armed forces, and has itself received support from Russian human rights group OVD-Info, which she said had in the past provided detained members of Russia’s furry community with legal aid.

Quadrobers, furries and therianthropes undermined “the traditional values and norms of society” and should be banned in the same way that the promotion of gender reassignment was, Volynets wrote.

The “international furry community” could not be reached for comment.