I think it’s about lines of social taboo. Coming out as gay means you’ve already done something socially difficult, and it means you’re closer to social fringes. It’s what I’ve always suspected for why queer people, polyamorous people, and people into bdsm wind up overlapping more than expected.
It's because the furry fandom, when it was founded back in the late 70's by a gay polycule of sci-fi fans, was one of the only communities in existence that accepted openly gay and trans people. (And the only non-fetish community.) For many queer people, the furry fandom is the first place they ever feel welcome.
There seems to be a link between neurodivergence and LGBTQ+ tendencies, from purely anecdotal evidence. Perhaps it's because neurodivergent people seem to be more willing to question the status quo and self-examine without the assumption that they must be however society deems "normal?"
Do you think there’s a real link between furries being gay, like the type of person who is a furry just tends to be disproportionately gay and online?
there's a disposition between gay people and being furries, not between being furry, and being gay.
It's a little weird, but it's just a technicality of the furry community being the way that it is. It's the same reason the US government is 90% people above the age of 60 right now. It's just demographic shenanigans.