That is exactly what was going through my head, Mossy! Well, kinda. The other part is being like, "look, this may be a kink or fetish, but there's plenty of sfw stuff; you don't have to think it's weird just because sex makes you uncomfy". It sucks when people assume something you're into is purely sexual because then social taboos kick in and you can't talk about it anymore.
Imagine if you really liked plushies, enough so that you have a "plushsona". You're not into the sexual side of it, you just really, really like plushies, and you like telling people about the different names and personalities of your plushies. At some point someone gets it into their head that you're actually aroused by your plushies and that you might even fuck them at night. Now everyone thinks it's a fetish and no one wants to talk about your """perverted interests""" anymore.
That's why. That kinda shit sucks.
Edit: it feels kinda weird to admit this, but I honestly, unironically like furry porn for the artistic aspect of it. Sure, it makes me horny, but that's not why I like it. If I wanted something to just get off to, AI has gotten good enough that I'm sure I could generate something that'd strike my fancy.
But that's not why I enjoy it. I like the fact that you can see that, while cartoonish, stylized and hand-drawn, these are pictures of real people sharing real moments of intimacy with each other. The emotions, interactions, and so forth feel way more candid and vivid than anything else I've seen. You can tell that these characters all have their own back stories based on their designs, the way they carry themselves, the way they interact with one another, the words they use, the clothes they wear (or don't wear), and so forth. They're more real.
I don't get that feeling from traditional pornography, hentai or rule34 stuff. It just doesn't have the same... something.
That's also why I don't think furry artists need to be concerned with generative AI either. I've seen enough of both, and even though a lot of the AI stuff I've seen is probably good enough to fool 90% of skeptics while also being more photorealistic than most artists are probably capable of, yet I still vastly prefer ~~human~~ furry-made stuff. AI's just eye-candy. It doesn't have the same level of love and care put into it as most non-ai stuff.
How does that even happen? I know exactly the feelings you're talking about, I think; but just... how did our brains decide being human just wasn't who we are? Like, what the fuck lol.
Edit: also, why are so many therians foxes, dogs or wolves? I'm not sure I've ever seen bird, feline, lizard or other therians.