The first LGBTQ+ person I ever ran into online was a transmasc furry artist. I had already been in the furry fandom for a short while before seeing his content. It wouldn't be for another relatively-short while that I would realize my actual gender. However, had his art not been seen by me, it is possible my story would have been completely different. His art was my first introduction to characters with body types outside the gender binary. Oh, and his art style is amazing. I wish I could remember his handle.

Now, I've found on Discord that MANY LGBTQ+ people I have ran into over the last 6 years of my Discord use have been furries.

As for what gender my original 2018 sona was: In a sense, it reflected that I was completely not hyperbinary but also a trans girl, at least in comparison to who I am now as a nonbinary person not beholden to the gender binary. This sona even used neopronouns, something I myself did not really use for myself at the time. It's a topic that is quite a feffadoo (a neologism I coined from the magic number of my program BWTC32Key) given that even looking at my notes app from back then on my oldest Android device (it was used as an interim device during SD card upgrading of my main phone and my main backup) provided me with more questions than answers. Looking at some writing files around a year prior on my Dropbox also prompted more questions than answers on the same topic. I can't say for certain as to what my degree of binary trans status was back then, but I can say what it wasn't. I wasn't at all hyper-binary. I would say that the furry community was where I ran into a large amount of the binary being escaped from.

In fact: the ey/em in my neopronouns exists because of ey/em being used by one particular fursona out there that totally related to me and is also an ambonec (both and neither binary gender, which is essentially what I am, even now.)

Oh and the entirety of my fursonas are nonbinary.

Now when it comes to gaming on Valve games... That community often wasn't the nicest to non-cishetmono people. I have plenty of stories on that topic, which I will spare you from. Meanwhile, the furry sites and community, even back in those times (2018), had a large amount of LGBTQ+ content and creators, which is a good thing.

As for other things: I did use my sona as a test bed for neopronouns (as detailed earlier). Oh, and the concept of a shy and sensitive inner male sona did apply in very late 2017 or so. In a sense, this sona harked back to one of the more intriguing characters by the furry artist I mentioned earlier who I can't remember the name of.

Also, I grew up in a sheltered upbringing, and the furry fandom let me be myself. To this day, I use technology and the internet as an escape from my real life.

I will ALSO say that I'm an otherkin. Oh, and as for my fursona species: it's a Pokemorph of Mew's Shiny form (Mew is a shy genderless shapeshifter Pokemon).

TL; DR: The furry community was VERY formative to my journey.