Senator Warns Your Airline Pilot Could Be A Furry In Bizarre Floor Speech—‘Lord Help Us’

Senator Tommy Tuberville took to the Senate floor to warn that your airline pilot might be a furry. “Lord help us,” he said. “It’s terrifying when you think about this.” The Alabama Republican didn’t identify a safety incident involving a furry pilot. His warning was about the possibility that someone flying your plane likes dressing up as an animal. Many—listen to this—that many airline pilots, flight attendants, and air traffic controllers are part of the furry community. Lord help us. It’s terrifying when you think about this. When you walk onto a commercial flight, it’s possible that the pilot flying your plane could have a deranged fetish of dressing up like an animal. You can’t make this up. Tommy Tuberville’s remarks about airline pilots and furries, shared by Brian Allen on September 23, 2026. The clip comes from the Senator’s September 22 floor speech attacking transgender people. Tuberville stood beside a sign declaring “TRANSGENDERISM IS A MENTAL DISEASE” above a pregnant-man emoji. He linked transgender people and furry fandom to violence, then turned to aviation workers. Tuberville is running for governor of Alabama. For anyone who hasn’t encountered the term, furries are fans of animal characters with human characteristics. There’s artwork, fiction, roleplay, online communities and conventions. Many create a character or avatar called a “fursona.” (I had to look this up.) Some wear elaborate animal costumes, called fursuits. There’s an adult side to the fandom as well but not all participate in that. The September 11–13 Furry Migration convention in Minneapolis advertised an “Aviation Furs Meet-Up,” inviting pilots, mechanics, air traffic controllers and people interested in aviation. I’ve covered a furry convention traveler before. In June 2022, a passenger posted from American Airlines’ Admirals Club in Boston while headed to Biggest Little Fur Con in Reno. Good morning, everyone, from the @AmericanAir Admirals club at Boston Logan Airport. An early start for my trip to #BLFC2022 , hope to see a lot of you there, say hello if you see me. Safe travels to anyone going there. pic.twitter.com/KHE4XeovMX — Account Not in Use- Check my Linktr.ee (@Goldeneyeuro) June 1, 2022 My question at the time was whether wearing a bulky costume on board could interfere with donning an oxygen mask or an emergency evacuation (in which case it could violate rules)? Similarly a pilot needs to see the instruments, communicate and operate the aircraft. Fortunately, a pilot wearing a costume at a convention doesn’t interfere their ability to see in the cockpit. . The speech has made it to an air traffic control discussion forum, where one commenter wanted to know: So, are they gonna issue us the furrsuit things, or do we have to pay for them? Another answered, “guilty, woof woof.” Over in the political discussion, a commenter responded to Tuberville’s warning that we’re “sitting ducks”: “We’re sitting ducks!” The furry agenda is working. This brings to mind Senator Tom Coburn’s 2004 campaign in Oklahoma. At a town hall he repeated a story from a campaign worker that “lesbianism is so rampant in some of the schools in southeast Oklahoma that they’ll only let one girl go to the bathroom” at a time. That was another Senate urban legend it seems, just like furries in the cockpit? Topics on this page