I'm trying to understand....

[NotAFurry]

Hello! I'm actually not a furry, and also I am not a furry hater (or lover for that matter). I recently found out my best friend is dating this dude who considers himself a furry. And she's also beginning to wear cat ears constantly and bought a tail.
Okay, so I'm a very very tolerable person. I'm in a black sorority tho I'm white. I have gone to gay parades and argued for gay rights tho I'm not gay. In fact, I am asexual, so I understand what it's like to be different. But furries confuse me sooooooo much like (and excuse my absence of grammar) I been lookin thru a billion different sites to understand this stuff and it's over my head.
Basically, I'm making an active move to accept this situation, being that I love my bestie and want to beable to support her no matter what species of human/nonhuman she thinks she is. I just would like to know some explanations (in modern terms without pointed directions to sites) what it means to you to be a furry. Is it some game? Or is it literally a um... physical evolution within the mind? Because to me it feels like a joke... and it makes me feel skeptical about the whole situation.
So please, help me understand! 
Also, you probably are wondering why I'm not asking my friend... I don't want to offend her. (I have a sarcastic tendency issue...) I have no problem with offending other people I don't know or care about, but I try to keep the drama low in my life!

[Ares the Ram]

first and foremost, its not as big as being gay or black minority.

Second, being a furry is simply liking anthropormorphic animals. Micky mouse is an example of an anthropormorphic animal. Thats all it really is, though some people take it farther than taht by wearing ears and tails and meowing or barking and such. Since youve been through a billion different sites, I imagine you've come across the term yiff. Not all furries are apart of this and it is important that you know this.

bottom line, if you dont wanna offend her, then make a big deal out of it  "i'm a furry" "ok"  simple as that.

[Kaprika]

its very much something for the imagination
 
have you ever played a roleplay?
or World of warcraft?
 
think of the fun you experience stepping into the shoes of another character
now sorta apply that to a furry...some just like the culture but others like to actualy step into the PAWS of a animal persona.
 
its fun, its a outlet for creativity
83

[Vine Tabris]

Furries is just the fandom of anthropomorphic characters, plain and simple.
It's not a race or something that needs fighting for, it's just a fandom. A lot of the furry stuff has to do with alternative persona's, so people will usually make a furry character that they feel better represents themselves as an anthromorphic character of an animal they strongly relate to. Sometimes it's not even an animal (hello I'm an example). But yeah, it's a fandom that revolves around creativity and self-expression. A lot of people use the characters and persona's that they make for roleplay threads or the like. A lot of the time people will become so attached to their characters that they'll make costumes to represent them in real life, which is fun for people, and sometimes even therapeutic, since the characters they're dressing up as might have a personality that the person wouldn't be able to express without being dressed as them (for example, someone who is shy, but has an outgoing persona, will be more outgoing when dressed as their character).
But yeah, a lot of furries get a bad rap for stupid things that some people do associated to the fandom, and of course those stand out more than the not-so-crazy ones, but above all it's just a fandom.
It's understandable for people to not accept/understand it or think that all furries are crazy, but eh, to each their own. As long as we can all respect each others interests I don't see why can't all get along.

[Puncia]

I agree with all above.

http://www.thefurryforum.com/forums/index.php?topic=16042.0
And don't forget this! Here is some simple reading material designed to answer your questions, even with some YouTube videos that I think give some really good insight.

[icy wolf]

to me a furry is so one who wants to assicate them selfs with the furry fandom.

what is the furry fandom ? a group of people who like anthro and call then selfs furrys.

the idea of a fursona is a caracter that your make to persnifa your self through. most furrys will call other furrys by there fur name.  some furrys do have fur suits but this is not required to be a furry ( ive got one) . some will make aniamal noises such as barking ( witch i do ). there are furcons all over the world, where you can scoliaze with other furs and buy art and other furry related objects. if you do plan on going to a fur meet ( a place where furrys will gather) please do keep an open mind.

[maggintons]

i would help you but everyone else has pretty much said everything there is to it.

[Fawkes]

Technically being a furry just means you like anthropomorphic animals. That's about it, and sometimes people role play (NOT IN THE SEXUAL SENSE) and just pretend to be animals online to make up stories with other furries.

That being said, "yiff" or "yiffing" can mean a lot of things, from anthro porn to sexually suggestive pictures people draw, or to people ejaculating onto stuffed animals, or having sex in fursuits.

NOT ALL FURRIES ARE YIFFERS.

Not all furries consider this to be equal to sexual orientation or gender identity or race.

HOWEVER, everything varies from person to person.

For myself, I consider myself to have a human body, but inside I am an anthropomorphic vixen with gray angel wings and purple fur around my face. Obviously, I know that's not the case for me physically, and no, this doesn't mean I have psychological problems.

I consider it to be like species identity, like "If you could be any animal in the world" but deeper. It's a part of who I am, and it's how I feel inside. I don't have a fursuit yet, but I want one so that I can feel more connected to what I feel like inside.

This is a very personal part of me, and your friend might not want to talk about it. You can ask her, see just how deep the rabbit hole goes, but no matter what you have to respect what she tells you. If she doesn't want to talk about it, drop it.

For some people, it's a really kinky fetish, like people who wear dog collars in public and are walked around by their masters. So you can understand why she might not want to tell you everything.

This comic kind of explains it best:

http://www.michiganfurs.com/forum/index.php?topic=7915.0

Scroll down until you find it. Also, read that page. It'll help you understand.

We are not freaks, weirdos, perverts or pedophiles. To each their own.

Also, don't confuse this with zoophilia or beastiality. People who like anthro and yiff are not always sexually attracted to animals, and we will not have sex with them and never plan to.

Don't forget, with every minority the people who take it waay too far are the ones people will pay the most attention to. They do NOT speak for us.

[Dorian]

Just a suggestion and I really don't mean this to sound rude but instead of going through a million sites why don't you actually speak to your friend and her boyfriend about it? Ask them why they're into it and what it means to them

The reason I'm saying this is because even though I'm fairly new to the fandom, it seems that every furry is different and we all have different reasons, interests and objectives within the fandom. The basic explaination is we are all interested in anthromorphic animals but truly understand what part of this appeals to your friend you're not going to find the answer unless you directly speak to her about it.