He's a trans man with shapeshifting abilities, but only from human to fox. Shapeshifters are hunted and killed and thought of as monsters. Many shifters try to hide their identity and suppress their shifting abilities, but it's who they are at their core to be able to shift between both. They can't just simply stay human forever, it's not good for their mental health.

the dysphoria of having a body that is not socially acceptable for how you identify, and that same society not allowing you to alter your body.