Category Archives: Speciesism

Discrimination based on species; animal rights and animal liberation issues

Photography, Veganism

Happy anniversary, Food Empowerment Project!

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[Image: lauren Ornelas speaks at a microphone in front of a screen reading “Food Empowerment Project 2015-2016.”]

This Saturday I attended a benefit party in San Francisco to celebrate the 9th anniversary of the Food Empowerment Project. I’ve written numerous times about this wonderful organization and their founder and executive director, lauren Ornelas. The F.E.P. advocates not only for non-human animals, but also for marginalized humans, including produce workers, restaurant workers, and enslaved children. Their commitment to food justice illustrates that just being vegan does not mean that one’s dietary choices are “cruelty-free.”

Fortunately, all of the chocolate at the anniversary party passed the F.E.P. recommendations for companies that don’t source from areas that use child slavery. Of course, there was plenty of other food there too, but I do love sweets.

Chocolate candies[Image: A colorful dish of chocolate candies.]

Beautiful cake[Image: A cake decorated with flowers and leaves in icing.]

I really appreciated that the volunteers labeled the restrooms as gender-neutral for this event. This was one of my suggestions in my  presentation on gender diversity at the Intersectional Justice Conference (at which lauren Ornelas also presented).

Gender-neutral restroom sign[Image: A sign with multiple gender symbols and the words “Inclusive restroom.”]

Azuah provided amazing music.

Azuah performing[Image: Azuah sings into a microphone while playing acoustic guitar.]

Food Empowerment Project team[Image: Food Empowerment Project team members pose and smile for the camera.]

Thanks to all the F.E.P. board members and volunteers for their great work. My full set of photos from the event is on Flickr. (This set is larger than usual, to meet specific requirements that I agreed to as the volunteer photographer.) Please credit me as Pax Ahimsa Gethen if you use any of them, thanks!

LGBTQIA, Veganism

Prince: Not vegan, still awesome.

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I was as shocked as everyone else yesterday to learn of the death of the legendary musician Prince, at the untimely age of 57. While I was growing up in the 80s, Prince’s music and music videos were in constant rotation on the radio and MTV. Although I only bought a couple of his albums myself,  I appreciated his amazing musicianship and fierce individuality.

So it is with some trepidation that I must point out one “fact” about Prince that many of my friends on social media are sharing is actually false. Prince was not a vegan. He was a vegetarian. Hear the man say this in his own words in a 2011 interview with George Lopez:

https://youtu.be/rQbqNl_lacg?t=4m21s

Despite not being vegan, there’s no doubt that Prince definitely spoke up for non-human animals. As the link notes, he openly shunned wool and leather in addition to flesh and cheese. But he was not opposed to all dairy products; he drank yak milk with the reasoning that “It is given freely by the yak, so U can truly enjoy it.” He also enjoyed snacking on cookies that contained milk and honey. [Update: See note on this below, under Edit, 4/24.]

Some will decry my words as excessive “vegan purity,” but I feel it’s important to point out that drinking animal milk isn’t vegan regardless of what animal it comes from (with the exception of human breast milk for human children, which can indeed be “given freely”). Besides, as shown above, Prince didn’t even describe himself as vegan, so it really isn’t appropriate to put that label on him, post-mortem.

Another danger of describing someone as vegan when they aren’t is that people who are convinced vegan diets are deficient or dangerous will latch onto any disease or early death as an excuse to bash veganism, independent of the actual composition of the diet or other factors. (See also: Steve Jobs.) Veganism is not a diet, and vegans can and do get sick. But most people in the USA do see veganism as just another dietary choice at this time, so it is not helpful to give conflicting information regarding what vegans eat.

Again, being non-vegan does not diminish Prince’s legacy, either as a musician or as a spokesman for the animals. Regardless, we should not be looking to celebrities as role models for veganism anyway, even in the black community. There are plenty of black vegans from all walks of life to connect with, including struggling artists who could use your support. We don’t need to falsely or mistakenly attribute veganism to black folks like Prince or Alice Walker (whose oft-repeated quote about animal rights is taken out of context) to convince others to go vegan.

As an aside, Prince also did not publicly label himself as genderqueer, genderfluid, or otherwise non-binary. By all accounts, he never openly identified as anything but a straight cisgender man. A man who gave no fucks about conventional masculinity (whatever that is), but a man nonetheless, song lyrics and clothing style notwithstanding. (Non-binary bloggers on The Orbit and Medium also wrote on this subject.)

Let’s celebrate Prince for what he was: An amazingly talented, passionate, groundbreaking musician, who deeply cared about animals in his own way.

Edit, 4/24: A commenter pointed out what I failed to notice, that the “What’s in Prince’s Fridge?” article linked to in the paragraph about yak milk was posted on April 1. Whether that was an April Fool or not, my point still stands based on the 2011 video of Prince being asked “You’re a vegan?” and responding “Vegetarian.” As I noted in response to comments below, if anyone finds a more recent statement from Prince himself saying that he is a vegan, please post a link to it here.

Edit, 6/3: Since this post keeps getting hits: Prince did describe himself as a “complete vegan” in a 1997 Vegetarian Times interview. So as I suspected, it appears that he was indeed vegan for part of his life, but not in the years immediately prior to his death.

Racism, Speciesism, Veganism

“Real” milk, real suffering

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[Image: Sarah Tulsi, a cow living at PreetiRang Sanctuary.]

One of the benefits of getting all of my television from the Internet is not having to sit through as many commercials. When I do watch conventional television, inevitably I see ads extolling the virtues of eating the flesh, eggs, and milk of my fellow animals. This was especially hard to take when staying at a hotel in Seattle after enjoying three days of all-vegan fare at last month’s Intersectional Justice Conference.

Returning from a breakfast buffet that included the sliced and cooked flesh of cows and pigs, I turned on the TV and saw an ad for “Real milk vs almond milk,” which featured a child in a spelling bee contest attempting to spell the word “lecithin,” an emulsifier used in some commercial almond milks. Another child then easily spelled the word “milk”, which was defined on screen as “milk, n., like, from a cow.”

https://youtu.be/oTS1RIZboqU

I suppose it’s good news that the dairy industry is feeling threatened enough by the sales of non-dairy beverages to spend advertising time and money taking them on. But it has always irritated me to hear milk stolen from forcibly-impregnated cows (and goats) described as “real,” while liquid blended and strained from water and nuts, soybeans, or other plants is considered, at best, an “alternative.”

Ziggy and I make soy and nut milks at home with water and soy/nuts only, and when we do buy commercial non-dairy milks, we seek out brands with no additives. Cow’s milk sold in the USA, in contrast, is hardly ever free of additives; by the time it hits store shelves, it has been pasteurized and processed to add vitamins (which we can get directly from plants and sunshine), and may contain traces of growth hormone and antibiotics. Perhaps the child at the “ingredient spelling bee” should have been asked to spell “penicillin.”

I heard “real milk” referred to again when we went to lunch at one of Seattle’s many all-vegan restaurants (Plum Bistro, highly recommended). A customer at a table near ours asked the waitperson if they had “real milk” or “just” soy milk.  It reminded me of a time a friend insisted that “vegan ice cream” made no sense, because cream had to come from a cow. I wish people would refer to animal milk products as “dairy” instead of stigmatizing plant-based foods as somehow illegitimate.

As I wrote in the DxE blog back when I was active with that group, the idea that cow’s milk is a normal and appropriate substance for humans to consume is a Eurocentric notion that ignores the fact that the majority of people on Earth—primarily people of color—cannot digest lactose properly after infancy. Of all animal products, I’m convinced that cow’s milk is the worst for both human and non-human animals (other than the baby cows it is meant for), in terms of health as well as ethics. Dairy farming involves terrible suffering and death, even on organic, “free-range,” and so-called “humane” farms. This is a large part of why I avoid advocating for vegetarianism, “Meatless Mondays,” or anything else that implies that eating “meat” is the primary problem with animal agriculture.

Let’s stop thinking of non-dairy milks as “alternatives” to or “substitutes” for animal milks, and just recognize them as another option in the vegan grocery cart. Plants are as real as real food gets.

Racism, Speciesism

Human/animal liberation and the limits of comparison

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[Image: Protesters block an intersection, holding a large banner reading  “We Are The Last 3% Of Black SF.”]

I debated whether to write this essay because there’s been a lot of in-fighting in animal rights and vegan communities, and I want to encourage positive contributions and collaborations rather than just criticism. But I feel it’s important to call out—and call in—our fellow activists when oppressive language or tactics are used, in order to make the movement a safer space for marginalized humans.

With that in mind, I have serious problems with yesterday’s blog post by Ana Hurwitz for Collectively Free, entitled “Bernie Sanders: A Nazi On Animal Rights.” I feel strongly that the word Nazi should only be used to describe actual Nazis, who have committed unforgivable atrocities against millions of people. Yes, I do consider non-human animals to also be people, and humans do commit atrocities upon them by the billions. But the vast majority of the population does not yet see animals this way. Therefore, singling out a politician—a Jewish person, no less—as a Nazi for treating animals no differently from every other mainstream US-American politician is more offensive than provocative, and does not advance the cause of animal rights.

I recognize that the author of this piece is Jewish, but I do not feel this makes her immune to criticism. I have Jewish ancestry myself, which is part of why I find any comparison—casual or serious—to Nazis to be alarming and disturbing. I wouldn’t even call Donald Trump a Nazi, and he (“allegedly”) has open supporters of the KKK and other white supremacist groups at his rallies.

Speaking of rallies, in response to criticism of this blog post on their Facebook page, Collectively Free has posted numerous links to a post about BlackLivesMatter activists disrupting a Sanders rally, as justification for their actions. As I’ve posted before in reference to that disruption, I feel that non-black people—including other people of color—have no business telling black folks who we should support or how we should protest. But I feel it is inappropriate and disingenuous for that protest to be brought up in this context, particularly by non-black people. The black activists who disrupted Sanders had a reasonable expectation that he might heed their words and make changes to his platform accordingly. Collectively Free has no reasonable expectation that Sanders—or any other mainstream presidential candidate—will promote animal liberation in response to their demands.

What’s more, what appears to be the original motivation for this criticism—which has included a disruption of a Sanders rally as well—is also disingenuous. A month ago, Direct Action Everywhere (which is a separate group from Collectively Free, though there is some overlap in supporters) posted on their main Facebook page a meme of Bernie Sanders smiling with the words “AMERICANS LIKE BACON!” emblazoned over his face. This was in response to a CNN interview with Sanders’ wife Jane, regarding a conversation she overheard between Sanders and Russell Simmons, who now endorses Hillary Clinton. As I posted in a comment on Zach Groff’s blog, DxE’s framing of these words as if they were direct quotes and as if Sanders were gleeful about killing animals was why I had a problem with the criticism; it wasn’t because I support Sanders (to reiterate, I support no presidential candidates) or felt that he should be beyond criticism. Unfortunately, Collectively Free has now added their voices to what I feel is an ineffective and polarizing campaign.

As I said at the outset, I wish to encourage positive action and not merely criticize other animal rights organizations. I welcome constructive comments from others on this blog, whether or not you support Collectively Free or DxE. I am particularly interested in hearing from black vegans on the BlackLivesMatter comparison, and from Jewish vegans on the Nazi comparison. I do not claim to speak for all black vegans (and certainly not for Jewish vegans), but I feel that too often groups hold up members of other marginalized groups (including other PoC) as evidence of solidarity with black liberation, without recognizing that the challenges faced by blacks in the USA are not all interchangeable with those faced by other oppressed groups— including our fellow animals.

Cissexism, LGBTQIA, Photography, Racism, Sexism, Speciesism, Trans, Veganism

Making connections at Whidbey

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[Image: A large group of people of color stand together outside the Whidbey Institute. Photo by Ziggy Tomcich.]

This weekend, Ziggy and I attended the Intersectional Justice Conference at the Whidbey Institute in Washington State. As I’ve written here previously, I was invited to be one of the speakers, and my presentation was on “Welcoming gender diversity: Trans, non-binary, and intersex inclusion in activist spaces.” I also led a workshop on gender identity and related issues. The event was a rewarding, challenging, and overall positive experience.

Striving with Systems at IJC[Image: Christopher-Sebastian McJetters, Aph Ko, and Justin Van Kleeck stand together in a hallway at the Whidbey Institute.]

The above photo features three of the participants I was most excited to meet in person: Christopher-Sebastian McJetters, Aph Ko, and Justin Van Kleeck, all contributors to the intersectional blog Striving with Systems. Christopher-Sebastian was my initial point of contact for this conference, and we both wept tears of joy on first meeting. Aph I have to thank for inviting me to the advisory board of Black Vegans Rock (which she founded and maintains), and we were thrilled to be housed together for the event. Justin has continually inspired me with his dedicated sanctuary work at Triangle Chance for All, as well as his writings on veganism and anti-oppression.

pattrice jones[Image: pattrice jones speaks at the Intersectional Justice Conference.]

Another inspirational sanctuary worker and activist who attended the conference was pattrice jones of VINE, an LGBTQ-run sanctuary. Christopher-Sebastian had begun the conference by reading an “Activist Bill of Rights” he created, which started out with “Fuck respectability.” pattrice took that instruction seriously, and at the beginning of her presentation she called out our host venue for housing chickens on the premises under unacceptable conditions. Other attendees throughout the conference called for the prisoners to be released to a sanctuary, and I am hopeful that the Whidbey Institute will agree to do so.

Black love and healing[Image: Aph Ko and Christopher-Sebastian McJetters comfort Dr. Amie Breeze Harper during her presentation at the Intersectional Justice Conference.]

The need to confront and dismantle white supremacy was a recurring and important theme of this conference. Aph Ko and Dr. Amie Breeze Harper both included images of lynchings in their presentations, to illustrate the very real and ongoing impact of racism, both in the animal rights community and the USA in general. The subject was so painful that both broke down in tears during their respective talks, and were comforted by each other, as well as by Christopher-Sebastian.

This moment pictured above illustrates to me the fundamental purpose and value of this event. Anti-oppression work is messy and uncomfortable and downright painful—and absolutely necessary.

The large number of people of color participating in this conference—as featured speakers and facilitators as well as attendees—was a welcome change from the mostly-white faces generally seen at vegan and animal rights events. A number of people featured on the Black Vegans Rock blog attended, including myself, Aph, Breeze, Christopher-Sebastian, Seba Johnson, JoVanna Johnson-Cooke, Brenda Sanders, Keith Tucker, and Unique Vance.

WoC at Whidbey[Image: A group of women of color stand together outside the Whidbey Institute.]

Carol Adams[Image: Carol J. Adams speaks at the Intersectional Justice Conference.]

Women—white and of color—were well-represented in featured roles as well. One of the featured speakers was Carol J. Adams, whose books on feminism and animal rights, including The Sexual Politics of Meat, are well-known and respected in the field. Her multimedia presentation was a fascinating and disturbing tour of the patriarchal and often blatantly sexist nature of animal product marketing. (Carol updated her presentation at the last minute to include a video of the Whidbey chickens, whom she also called to be released.) I was honored that Carol attended and actively participated in my breakout session on gender diversity.

Marnie and Dylan[Image: Marnie Jackson-Jones sits with her arms around her daughter.]

Marnie Jackson-Jones, who extended the official invitation for me to speak at this conference, did a heroic job as a facilitator. One of her young daughters attended many of the sessions with her, and was delightful.

This conference, while somewhat exhausting physically and emotionally, exceeded my expectations. I am hopeful that future iterations of this event can be improved in several areas, with more careful vetting of sponsors and venue to minimize speciesism, and more accommodations such as ASL interpretation. (I was very happy that the organizers implemented my suggestion to make restrooms gender-neutral for the duration of the event.) Regardless, these shortcomings did not diminish the impact of the anti-oppression work that was accomplished and the connections that were made this weekend.

While I was not the official photographer, Ziggy and I did take a number of photos, which are available on Flickr. If you use any of them, please credit me as Pax Ahimsa Gethen unless otherwise stated in the photo description (most of the photos that I’m in were taken by Ziggy Tomcich). The slides and notes from my presentation are also online, and I’ll post links to the videos of the speakers as soon as they are made available.

Cissexism, Racism, Religion, Sexism, Speciesism, Trans, Veganism

Social justice mages head to Washington

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[Image: Banner reading “Interspecies & Intersectional Justice – Animal Rights, Human Rights, Just Society, Healthy Planet.” Animal footprints – non-human and human – adorn the sides of the banner.]

Tomorrow Ziggy and I are heading to Whidbey Island in Washington State for the Intersectional Justice Conference that I’ve been writing about. I’m excited about this event, and especially looking forward to meeting Aph Ko and Christopher-Sebastian McJetters*, whose work I’ve linked to frequently.

As much as I’m looking forward to this weekend, regular readers of my blog know that my mind is heavy lately, and the current political climate does nothing to assuage it. Mainstream news channels are covering “Terror in Brussels” 24/7, a level of concern not expressed for the victims of recent attacks in Istanbul, Ankara, and the Ivory Coast. Republican presidential candidates are calling for closing our borders and patrolling Muslim neighborhoods.

The same sort of conservatives who are predisposed to Islamophobia are introducing bill after bill to dehumanize trans people. After efforts in South Dakota and Tennessee** were thwarted, North Carolina joined the list of states attempting to force people to use restrooms matching their “biological sex” (wasting a great deal of taxpayer money in the process). Meanwhile, Ziggy and I will be arriving at the airport two hours before our scheduled (domestic) flight tomorrow, because the TSA treats trans people as potential terrorists.

Islamophobia, racism, sexism, and cissexism are all prevalent in animal rights and vegan messaging, and will be among the topics discussed at the Whidbey conference. Vegans and non-vegans alike often derisively label folks who care about these issues as “social justice warriors.” As I’m a pacifist, I like activist vlogger Kat Blaque’s comeback to this charge: “I’m a social justice mage.”

I likely won’t be blogging again until after the conference, though I’ll still review and approve comments if I have time. I believe the presentations will be filmed (though not live-streamed), so hopefully those who cannot attend in person can watch them later. There will be an official photographer, so I’m not planning on taking many photos, but I will post any good ones that Ziggy and I take for sure. Here’s to a successful conference!

* Whose arm I will be gently and lovingly twisting until he agrees to set up a web site of his own to host all of his brilliant writings. I hate linking to Facebook!

**After posting this entry, I learned that the anti-trans bill in Tennessee has not yet been killed. I wish I could say I’m surprised.

Speciesism, Veganism

Honey is for bees, not vegans

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[Image: A honeybee perches on a red flowering plant with waxy leaves.]

Honey is a perennial topic of debate among vegans. On the face of it, whether or not to eat honey should be a simple matter: Bees make honey, bees are animals, vegans avoid exploiting animals to the extent possible, eating honey is avoidable, therefore vegans should not eat honey. Yet many vegans continue to rationalize that eating the food made by these amazing animals is consistent with vegan ethics.

I know, because I was one of those vegans myself. From 2011 to 2014, I called myself vegan because I did not consume any flesh, dairy, or eggs. But I still occasionally ate honey, mostly in products like bread. When asked about it, normally by people who were not vegan and had no interest in animal rights or welfare, I gave various excuses, but eventually admitted that I just couldn’t get all that worked up about the plight of bees.

Even then, I knew that eating an animal product was inconsistent with a vegan diet, but I didn’t yet see animals as people, not property. In addition to eating honey, I still used some animal-derived clothing and other products, and visited a zoo once or twice. I stopped doing all of that, to the extent possible, when I became an animal rights activist in 2014. I could no longer justify exploiting any animal – including insects – if I could reasonably avoid it.

I’m bringing this up now because I read a recent article by KD Angle-Traegner about additional reasons to avoid honey; namely, the use of honey in animal testing. The same author had previously posted a more comprehensive guide about the problems with honey, which I recommend reading, as it addresses many common questions and objections. Whether you’re vegan or not, having additional information on this subject cannot hurt; it’s troublesome, though not surprising, that the author notes that many people have unfollowed her on social media just for posting about honey. (If you’re tempted to do the same to me, go ahead; I don’t self-censor to get more “likes.”)

The timing of this article’s publication was fortuitous because I’ve been watching the series Inside Man by Morgan Spurlock (of Super Size Me fame) on Netflix, and had just gotten up to the episode where he investigated honey and bee colony collapse. I like Spurlock’s documentary style, but as with other episodes of this series where he’s covered issues involving our fellow animals, it was difficult for me to watch because of the overt speciesism. To the commercial beekeepers Spurlock worked with (more for pollination services than for honey), these animals were nothing but mindless automatons, and when they died off in massive numbers, the only mourning was for the loss of income. Even the smaller beekeepers he visited actually hunted and captured wild bees to breed them with their existing “stock.”

Whether on a large or small scale, to me, beekeeping is forced labor, indistinguishable from dairy or egg farming. Bees make honey and royal jelly to feed themselves, not humans. The fact that bee pollination is responsible for a large portion of the plants we eat just makes it even more unfair to take their food away from them. If large-scale agriculture cannot be sustained without commercial beekeeping, that’s just more evidence to me that humans are taking up far too much space on this planet.

While I do not consider eating honey to be compatible with veganism, my point of writing this post is not to shame people who call themselves vegans despite eating honey; as I said, I was once one of those people myself. My goal is to provide information about animal exploitation so that people can make informed decisions about what products and services they buy. While I have no authority on who merits the title of “vegan,” I expect that if I buy a food or other product that is labeled “vegan” at a grocery store or restaurant, it should not contain honey, pollen, royal jelly, or beeswax. These are animal products, period.

Bees are remarkable, hard-working animals. Let them keep the product of their labor.

Speciesism, Veganism

Two-party politics will not liberate animals

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[Image: Gandalf, a goat at Preetirang Sanctuary.]

Disclaimer/reminder: I am registered with no political party and do not support or endorse any presidential candidates.

I’ve tried to stay out of political discussions, but recent social media posts about Democratic presidential candidates and their support for animals, or lack thereof, has irritated me enough to say something.

Let’s face it. No Democratic or Republican presidential candidate is ever going to campaign for animal liberation. The best you can expect is maybe some promises of welfare reform or promotion of plant-based diets. But recognizing legal personhood and abolishing the property status of animals? Forget it.

The two major U.S. parties are not identical, but they are similar in one fundamental respect: Money. In our capitalist system, there is simply too much profit to be made by exploiting people to achieve true justice and equity for humans, much less our fellow animals. I am convinced that the only way to make radical changes is to dismantle the system and rebuild it from the ground up.

Note that I’ve been voting since 1988, when I was first eligible to do so, so I’ve heard every argument against “third parties” in the book. Don’t bother telling me that “A vote for x is a vote from Trump” or “Not voting is a vote for Trump” or anything else that implies I am personally responsible for rescuing this country from the fucked up state it is in. (See yesterday’s post by A. Breeze Harper for some insight on how that might have happened.) Besides, I’m not convinced that any political party is able to accomplish the kind of radical change that would make me feel safe, welcome, and happy to call myself a US-American.

For the record, though, there is a political party that is campaigning on a platform of animal rights (among other reforms): The Humane Party. They actually require all of their candidates and officers to sign an oath abstaining from all animal products and services. Their presidential candidate (who again, I am not endorsing) is Clifton Roberts.

Of course, I’m sure none of the animal rights groups are bothering to mention this party’s existence because it’s such a long shot that they would win. But you know what else is a long shot? Animal liberation. Only a tiny proportion of people in this country actually recognize farmed animals as individual sentient beings who deserve to live for their own sake. Citing polls that say things like “32% of people believe animals should be given the same rights as people” is frankly disingenuous, because if that were really true we’d see far more widespread acceptance – and even enforcement – of veganism than we currently do. Such respondents might have actually believed what they were saying, but I guarantee the majority of them poured cow’s milk on their cereal before putting on their leather shoes and going to work.

So if animal rights activists truly want animal liberation, why aren’t more of them campaigning for candidates who actually support it? Or, better yet, organizing for (peaceful) revolution? I know why I’m not doing it: Serious depression and dysphoria that have made it difficult for me to even take care of myself, much less get involved in radical political reform. But there are a lot of energetic vegan activists out there.

Regardless, US-American politics is rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic at this point. I’m not saying any other particular country is better on animal rights specifically; animals are exploited – just by nature of them being considered property – pretty much everywhere. And as a queer black trans person with mental health issues, even if I had the independence and ability to just pick up and move, I honestly don’t know where I would go.

To reiterate: This is not an endorsement of Clifton Roberts or any other candidate. I am just fed up with two-party politics, and the expectation that as a progressive I have a duty to play along.

Atheism, Cissexism, Classism, Heterosexism, LGBTQIA, Racism, Sexism, Speciesism, Trans, Veganism

Happy International Women’s Day

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[Image: lauren Ornelas gives a presentation on the Food Empowerment Project.]

Happy International Women’s Day! In honor of the occasion, I’d like to say a few words about each of the women currently featured on my links list.* I present them here in alphabetical order, along with one recommended work for each.

Kat Blaque

Kat Blaque is a vlogger, illustrator, and activist, speaking out against sexism, racism, and trans-antagonism. She has created educational videos on these topics for Everyday Feminism, and has built a thriving, active community on Facebook and other social networks. I recommend her video explaining the difference between gender expression and identity.

Greta Christina

Greta Christina is a writer on topics including atheism, feminism, sexism, cis/heterosexism, and sexuality. She has published several books on atheism, and speaks out against oppression in the atheist movement. I recommend her article on what not to say in response to misogyny.

Amie Breeze Harper

Dr. A. Breeze Harper is a speaker, educator, and author on feminism, veganism, and critical race studies. She founded Sistah Vegan Project and Critical Diversity Solutions, and is on the advisory board of Black Vegans Rock. I recommend her article on raising children in a world of oppression and hostility.

Aph Ko

Aph Ko is a blogger, performer, digital media producer, and founder of Aphro-ism and Black Vegans Rock. She advocates veganism from black feminist perspective. I recommend her video on animal oppression and anti-racism.

Syl Ko

Syl Ko is a writer, activist, and doctoral student, researching the human/animal binary from a black vegan feminist perspective. She co-founded Aphro-ism with her sister Aph, and is on the advisory board of Black Vegans Rock. I recommend her article on anti-racism and the human/animal divide.

Sophie Labelle

Sophie Labelle is a trans activist, illustrator, and author of the web comic Assigned Male. Her comic challenges cissexism (including non-binary and intersex erasure) from the humorous perspective of a young trans girl. She has so many great strips that I can’t single out one to recommend; if you have time, just read them all from the beginning.

Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin is an author, primarily of fantasy and science fiction, whose books explore gender and sexuality, among other topics. Le Guin is my favorite author; I took my last name from her book The Left Hand of Darkness, which is my recommended read.

lauren Ornelas

lauren Ornelas is the founder and executive director of the Food Empowerment Project, a vegan food justice organization that actively works to counter oppression of marginalized humans as well as our fellow animals. I recommend her post on experiencing oppression in the fast food industry.

Ali Seiter

Ali Seiter blogs about feminism, anti-speciesism, and anti-racism on Chickpeas and Change. The site has been on hiatus for awhile, but has many articles well worth reading. I recommend reading her thoughts on the origins of the term “intersectionality.”

Julia Serano

Julia Serano is a writer, performer, speaker, and trans activist. She has authored numerous essays and books, including Whipping Girl, a classic on trans feminism and gender theory. I recommend her article on the “T” word and the language of trans activism.

Sarah K. Woodcock

Sarah K. Woodcock is the founder and executive director of The Advocacy of Veganism Society. She speaks out against all oppression of humans as well as our fellow animals. I recommend her article explaining why her organization stopped using the word “abolitionist.”

Corey Lee Wrenn

Dr. Corey Lee Wrenn is a lecturer, author, and founder of The Academic Activist Vegan and Vegan Feminist Network. She advocates veganism from a feminist perspective, and calls out oppression in the animal rights movement. I recommend her article on sexism faced by vegan women.

Several of the women on this list  – A. Breeze Harper, Aph Ko, lauren Ornelas, and Sarah K. Woodcock – will be speaking at the Intersectional Justice Conference later this month, where I’ll also be presenting. I trust you will find much of value in their wise words.

* Remember that not everyone who has a feminine-sounding name or appearance is a woman; several people on my links list are non-binary.

Sexism, Speciesism, Veganism

Feminists, vegans, and vegetarians

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[Image: Geeta, a goat at Preetirang Sanctuary.]

Last week, Everyday Feminism (a site I visit frequently and highly recommend) published a video by Celia Edell entitled “Does Feminism Require Vegetarianism or Veganism?” (A text transcript is included; I read the text rather than watching the video.) Based on the title and premise I wanted to respond immediately, but I waited for an important reason: I am not a woman, and it’s not up to me to decide who can call themselves a feminist.

Feminism strives for equality for all genders, but came about specifically to address women’s rights. It is inappropriate for members of the oppressing class – in this case, men – to tell the oppressed how they should behave or identify. Some would make allowances for trans men and transmasculine people like myself*, based on our lived experiences as women. But that same argument is used by TERFs to exclude trans women and transfeminine people from women’s spaces.

So I will not answer the direct question posed in the title, of whether feminism requires vegetarianism or veganism. I will instead point to vegan women who have addressed that question. Aph Ko wrote two essays for Everyday Feminism previously on vegan feminism and black veganism, and just today published an essay on understanding oppression which provides additional context. Charlotte Eure of Striving With Systems (another site I highly recommend) wrote a direct response to the EF piece this week. And yesterday, Vegan Feminist Network republished an essay on vegan feminism, with specific references to the work of Carol J. Adams, by Anna Varga. (Note: Aph Ko, Carol J. Adams, and I will all be speaking at the Intersectional Justice Conference, which starts one month from tomorrow.)

What I do want to address is the lumping together of vegetarianism and veganism. Seeing those two words together really irritates me because the writer is almost always implying two misconceptions:

  • Veganism and vegetarianism are both diets
  • The issue of harm boils down to “eating meat”

To the first misconception: Veganism is an ethical stance against violence. Eating a plant-based diet is a large and important part of veganism, but not the whole of it. I’ve watched with dismay as the word “vegan” has increasingly gone the way of the word “vegetarian”, the latter of which is sometimes used even by people who eat the flesh of fishes and birds. Sometimes I think fighting for the original, fuller meaning of “vegan” is a lost cause, but I feel compelled to point out misuse of the term regardless.

To the second: Consuming the milk and eggs of animals causes just as much harm as consuming their flesh, if not more so. Dairy cows are forcibly impregnated year after year, have their children taken away from them, and are slaughtered at a young age. Male chicks are routinely killed shortly after birth – by grinding, crushing, or gassing – in the course of egg production, and laying hens are also slaughtered at a young age. Dehorning, debeaking, and castration, all without anesthesia, are also standard procedures on so-called “humane” and organic farms, not just “factory” farms; Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary has the details.

Self-described ethical vegetarians really don’t like to hear these facts about their diets. I count myself among them, having wavered between a vegan and vegetarian diet for over 19 years before finally committing to living vegan. I’m going to keep telling the truth about farmed animals to stop people from claiming ignorance of the impact of their food choices, and I encourage other vegans to do the same.

If folks really don’t have a choice of what to eat – due to poverty or other circumstances – I won’t judge them for eating animal products. But too often the dire circumstances of others are used to excuse the personal habits of those who do have the privilege to choose plant-based meals. People who are truly concerned about increasing access to “vegan food” should consider supporting groups like Food Not Bombs and the Food Empowerment Project.

In conclusion: It’s not up to me to define feminism, but I do have a say when it comes to veganism. Veganism and vegetarianism are not interchangeable. From the perspective of the victims – our fellow animals who are exploited and slaughtered by the billions year after year – consuming dairy, eggs, or “meat” all cause avoidable harm. Even veganism is not “cruelty-free”, but living vegan is a significant and important step toward ending oppression.

* While I am agender, I transitioned to male for legal and medical purposes, so I also accept the label of transmasculine.