By: Chloë Arneson, News Writer
In honour of pride month, The Peak wanted to shine a spotlight on one of our favourite underrated LGBTQIA2S+ icons, McFogg the Dog. Any student within the community with at least a semi-functioning gay-dar could tell you that the burly, mustachioed, kilt-wearing beast is definitely fruity.
The LGBTQIA2S+ community has a history of choosing strange mascots to represent our pride. The question of who, or what, is chosen by the community to become a “gay icon” is simultaneously very simple, and yet impossible to describe. Lady Gaga and Elton John, those make sense. But what about frogs? Or the Babadook? Queer icons are adopted by different parts of the community from vastly different parts of culture. The one defining factor — an aura that speaks to some part of the queer experience. McFogg the Dog absolutely oozes the aura of a gay icon.
McFogg’s attitude is the only explanation for how he so effortlessly slays his iconic look: a kilt, boots, a tiny hat, and his muscled chest covered with barely a wisp of a vest. Aside from the obvious lack of toxic masculinity it takes to pull off a look so glamorous, McFogg is that bitch and he knows it. He is serving leather daddy in Pride-the-house-down boots. He literally looks like the furries you inevitably bump into at Pride. As someone who grew up on the gay side of the internet, I don’t even want to know what art of our Scottish fursona there is out there. McFogg has all the makings of a bear, despite being a tiny Scottish terrier.
His big, hairy body certainly does not go unappreciated, as he was voted SFU’s sexiest in 2022. His pretty face and iconic look isn’t the only thing that we appreciate about McFogg, however. After reading a 3000-word article on the history of our beloved icon, I believe his story of overcoming adversity echoes the difficulties of the queer experience. You can definitely expect to see him on the front of rainbow coloured Walmart shirts next June.
After he was introduced in 1996, many students felt that McFogg was not manly enough, with one Peak writer having allegedly seen our dashing hero taken down and mugged by three pre-teens. Just mortifying. Despite facing these horrors, he rose above with a fresh glow-up, those iconic muscles, and overflowing confidence. If that isn’t iconic, I don’t know what is. Last time somebody told me that I was an abomination, I got ten times hotter and made sweet love to their mom, so I can confirm that this is the quintessential gay experience.
While McFogg has never directly commented on his sexuality, it is pretty clear that he embodies the soul of the community. He is loud and proud, and quite frankly, looks way too good to not be a gay icon.
