Intersectional Zoosexual
However much we try to avoid it the concept of race permeates our lives regardless of whether or not we want it to. Far too often, even in marginalized communities like the queer community, we see a difference in the treatment between individuals and the level of recognition based off race which is skewed in favor of the often white majority. Oppression is multifaceted and racism and white supremacy affect almost everything we do, even in communities focused on fighting against and resisting oppression like the zoosexual community. Racism can and does exist in spaces like our own and for a while now I have felt like zooey spaces have had a rising problem with racism that seems to have gone mostly unaddressed. Since online communities associated with being a zoo are, in my experience, mostly focused on white perspectives, it can be hard to bring up these topics, which is why I want to open the discussion as a Black Zoosexual.
About a month ago, I created a survey to discuss race-related issues within the zoo community. I said in that survey that I would report back on my findings. I got many interesting responses, and the statistics were shocking, so I decided to further my research by conducting a few interviews. So here it is, the Research and Findings of a Black Zoo on the Rising Issues of Racism in the Zoosexual Community.
Sniffing Around to Start My Search
Growing up as a black male zoosexual was a very odd experience for me. Zoosexuality as an attraction was most often viewed in my circles as "white people shit" for lack of a better term. There are many jokes in and out of the zoo community that I still frequently see that imply that showing love affectionately and zealously to non-humans is something most often done by white women and not something that people of color do. It felt strange then to accept myself as a zoo, not only because of the stigma surrounding the orientation but also because of my racial background. It felt difficult for me to join a community that I thought wouldn't acknowledge me or be accepting of me based on my race. I was subconsciously tentative about entering spaces associated with being openly zooey, because even though I would be one of many zoos, I didn't want to feel like the only black one. That feeling was extremely hard to deal with.
You might question why I explained that feeling of isolation in a section about the findings from the small community survey I posted, but it is very important. Of the people who took my survey, a little over 50% identified as a race other than white, either fully or partially. I will state that again. Of the people who took my survey, over half were either people of color and/or mixed race. Here's the breakdown: 22.4% of the participants self-identified with more than one of the listed races, with many people listing things such as Indigenous Native and White, Hispanic or Latino and White, Middle Eastern or North African and White, etc. 12.2% identified as Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% identified as Black or Afro American, around 2% identified as Indigenous Native, 2% identified as Asian, and 2% of people identified as something not listed.
You can imagine my shock, and then the flood of overwhelming joy. I felt a mixture of happiness and a sense of visibility through the numbers. I wasn't the only black member of the zoo community! Y'know that dance Snoopy does when he's happily listening to music, it was like that. After the joy settled and the thoughts of not being alone faded, only feelings of utter confusion remained. There is always a margin for error, and yes, the people who felt a need to express themselves in my small survey might have felt that way because of their own identity as a person of color, but even still, they expressed themselves. If there are so many zoos of color, why do we rarely hear that much about them?
In the survey, I asked about 30 questions, some of which were short-answer and some were on an agreement scale. If you haven't taken the survey or didn't understand the purpose of some questions, many of the initial questions were meant to establish a baseline so I could better understand the community. Some questions were: "How do you describe your cultural expression of your racial identity? Do you think your racial background influences your perspectives or experiences in life? Do you think your racial identity or cultural expression of said identity impacts how you interact with the zoo community?"
I asked the participants more specific questions about whether they feel we talk enough about different racial perspectives; most people said no. Many stated that they did not feel represented by the views frequently expressed, or that they wished different people's views were recognized. With many zoos from different countries possibly feeling the same nagging isolation I felt when joining the community. One anonymous submitter stated how wonderful it would be to see other zoos from Latin American countries have a presence in the community and be interested in discussing ethical relationships with non-humans. Another participant said openly that they find there are way too many racists in the community in ways that are open and loud. I was able to later expand on this in some of my interviews.
I also asked whether people thought different racial perspectives should be included in discussions of zoosexual identity, and while most people said yes, what was interesting to me was that many people had mixed opinions on whether or not there actually is a racism problem within the zoo community. I thought this uncertainty was interesting, as 45% of participants stated they had seen things that would be considered racist in zoosexual spaces. I know for a fact this is true, as even in the survey, many discreetly or even overtly racist things were said. People stating that they don't mind if they've done anything racist, saying it is a waste of time to acknowledge the perspectives of others, and that by making this survey, I was "just looking for racism," and that I was "not actually helping anyone."
These attitudes fracture and ultimately break our community, by implying that others' perspectives aren't worthy of acceptance or acknowledgment. Since I truly want to acknowledge all perspectives, I decided to conduct a series of interviews.
Chasing Every Lead
I decided to conduct about 3 interviews with a range of people in the community, specifically those who have been in online zoo spaces for more than a year and used Discord. After some clumsy reporting skills on my part and the creation of some fake names, I was able to gather some pretty good information.
What is your racial background, and how long have you been in the community?
Mark: I'm white. I've officially been in the zoo community for about two years but I've felt I was zoo about eight.
Polaris: I'm a mixed native, and I've been interacting with the zoo community for about a year and a half, though I've been zoo for most of my life.
Alef: I'm white, and I've been in the zoo community for around a year and a half now, I believe.
Tell me about your individual experience in the zoo community. How has it been?
Mark: The years have been bad, but for different reasons. Let's be real, things happen to people like us. I'm not stupid, though. I know I've grown up with an easier life than most, and then the people around me in this environment, it's like they're ignorant; they don't know. Or they just don't care? It's like, I try to talk, I try to make friends, but then they would just say some racist stuff, and I'm like, that's not cool, and then I'm the weird one.
Polaris: Overall, the zoo community has been, for me, both good and bad for various reasons. Some of the nicest and most genuinely fun, caring, and kind people I've ever met have come from here; it does carry with it a group of people who fall into the various buckets of toxic, racist, transphobic, etc., too.
Alef: My experience in the zoo community has not been the greatest, to say the least, partly due to my own actions and people's reactions to those actions.
Do you think the zoo community has a racism problem? If not, why? If yes, why and how do you think we can fix it?
Mark: I've seen other people's experiences of what they've gone through, currently or in the past, and them talking about it. While I mean, let's be real, almost every community has racism in it. Unfortunately, that's kind of how it is right now. It's making it not safe for a lot of people.
Polaris: The zoo community does have problems with anti-blackness and accountability. I've seen people use slurs, push racist narratives and stereotypes, and say outright bigoted things with very little pushback or punishment.
Alef: Yes, I do. Most of my reasons for why I believe that are heard experiences from my friends who are people of color, around various times they felt isolated or shamed due to their race. I honestly do not know how to fix this problem, besides having poc zoos express themselves and be proud of their identity more often and louder.
What does a better zoo community look like to you?
Mark: I always thought that it was stupid, being tolerant of the intolerant, because they are creating an unsafe space wherever they are if they're purposely being intolerant. So I think, if you're intolerant, you're not one of us.
Polaris: This can be fixed by listening more closely to the marginalized groups affected when they call it out, and by having zero tolerance for those bad actors.
Alef: The zoo community needs a lot of work, but I think that can generally be summed up by zoos not putting themselves into subgroups, and instead uniting under one common identity of being a zoo. Zoos are a very persecuted group of critters, and we need all the help we can to stay strong and stay together. Isolated and broken up, we are weak, but together we can, hopefully, cause a shift in the world and in its view of animals as objects.
Finding Where We Go from Here
So, with all that said, where do we go from here? It's a question I've asked myself and others, and one you might be asking too. If the zoo community doesn't always feel safe for members of color, how can we improve the community and ourselves? Is it simply removing bad actors and coming together under the shared identity of being zooey? I would like to say it is simple, but things rarely are. Silence is not helping; more zoos need to open themselves up to examining their own bias, and the community needs to start holding itself accountable.
If you see racism in the community, even if it is the slightest microaggression, calling it out is something you need to do. Not only is it a massive benefit to the community, but it also helps people feel safer as they learn about being anti-racist. It has been shown many times over that seeing positive examples of anti-racist behaviors leads to people being less racist and more tolerant. Rather than basing beliefs on the racial stereotypes we still frequently see in online communities, people will gain a more realistic perspective through direct experience.
Hey, I don't wanna read any of that. What's the TLDR?
The zoo community has a problem with bigotry, specifically racism. Oppression is multifaceted, and racism and white supremacy affect almost everything we do, even in communities focused on fighting against and resisting oppression, like the zoosexual community. Through surveying the zoo community, my suspicions have been confounded. There is an unaddressed issue with racism in the zooey spaces. I feel like these rising problems are something we can address together, and so do many others. Silence is not helping; we need to have this conversation, which is why I want to open the discussion as a Black Zoosexual. There are many overlooked and misunderstood perspectives in the community. I encourage everyone to start opening themselves to understanding without the desire to be understood or to center themselves, which is just the first step. The zoo community should be examining its own bias, holding itself accountable, and listening to the perspective of the many zoos of color in the community.
Article written by Felidavian (July 2026)
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