There's a compelling argument to be made that the furries constitute a counterculture: they certainly fall outside the mainstream, with most external perception

There's a compelling argument to be made that the furries constitute a counterculture: they certainly fall outside the mainstream, with most external perceptions of them range from see them as "weird" to "degenerates". They create plenty of their own cultural artifacts in the form of art and writing. And they have a disproportionate impact on the tech world relative to their numbers. On the other hand they are a very small group relative to, say, the hippies, and aren't really framed a being in direct opposition of the status quo. But I don't think the status quo has much support in popular culture. Our current state of affairs is the result of a stalemated tug of war between many different groups who all oppose the status quo.