Editing ConFurence (section)

{{Short description|First furry convention, held from 1989 to 2003}}
{{Infobox Convention
| name       = ConFurence
| image      = ConFurence.png
| caption    = 
| status     = Inactive
| genre      = [[Furry fandom|Furry]]
| venue      = 
| location   = California
| country    = United States
| first      = 1989
| last       = 2003
| organizer  = 
| filing     = 
| attendance = 
| website    = http://www.confurence.com/
}}

'''ConFurence''' was the first exclusively [[furry convention]],<ref>{{cite news|author=Patten, Fred|author-link=Fred Patten|url=http://www.flayrah.com/4117/retrospective-illustrated-chronology-furry-fandom-1966-1996|title=Retrospective: An Illustrated Chronology of Furry Fandom, 1966–1996|publisher=[[WikiFur:Flayrah|Flayrah]]|date=2012-07-15|accessdate=2012-07-15}}</ref> held annually in southern California from 1989 to 2003. The large furry presence at the [[BayCon]] [[science fiction convention]]s instigated Mark Merlino and Rod O'Riley to throw "furry parties" at Westercon, Baycon, and other west coast sci-fi conventions in the late 80's. This led to the test gathering in 1989, ConFurence Zero.<ref name="patten-conventions"/>

The convention became well known in mainstream media and among the furry fandom for its sexual themes. [[Samuel Conway|Sam Conway]] said, “By ConFurence 6 it looked like PrideFest”. Although Mark Merlino claims nothing special happened at the convention.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-27 |title=Bad Dragon's kingdom of fantasy sex toys is caged by 'queer' capitalism |url=https://www.dailydot.com/irl/bad-dragon/ |access-date=2021-12-15 |website=The Daily Dot |language=en-US}}</ref>