Veganism is gay
Exploring the intersection of homosexual culture and veganism
Veganism is often seen as “queer” and a lot of queer-identifying people are vegan. But is this a pure coincidence, or is there a correlation between being queer and creature vegan?
Recently, I was on a date with a girl and, both organism vegetarian or vegan, we discussed our dietary habits. She mentioned that she had a lot of queer friends who also happened to be vegetarian or vegan, and then made a fleeting comment about this seeming to be the case for a lot of gay people.
Strangely enough, I’d never really thought about it before that, but a lot of queer people do happen to also be vegetarian or vegan. In fact, journalist Josie Le Vay created a poll on vegan Facebook groups in the UK, asking people if they identified as LGBT+. Out of 925 responses, 66.4% said they were LGBT+.
But of course, just one poll doesn’t address whether or not there is a link, nor the similarities and differences of being queer and organism vegan. So, I spoke to some queer vegans to find out what they think and how they feel these concepts overlap and differ. Is being queer and vegan a pure coincidence, or is there a correlation?
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Josie Le Vay ponders why there are so many lgbtq+ herbivores.
In January I went vegan. I’m a millennial writing an article for a lesbian magazine, what else would you expect?
A vast cliché, I understand. Veggie burgers and avocado toast contain probably become as much of a lesbian stereotype as having a concise haircut and owning a cat.
But it wasn’t until I made the lifestyle choice myself, while happening to be what is most certainly not a choice (gay, if that wasn’t already obvious enough), that I realised the truth behind the stereotype.
The overlap is so real. Queer vegans are everywhere. It’s actually got to the gesture where I presume gay people I meet are vegan. Whenever I’m swiping through Tinder or Her, I reach across dozens of girls with nothing other than “vegan” written on their bios (and if you’re lucky, you’ll find a petite plant emoji too). When I went to the NUS LGBT+ conference, vegans were everywhere. I think the only other time the hotel kitchen staff would have to cater for quite so many vegans is if they were holding an event for PETA.
I’ve seen multiple vegan cafes with Lgbtq+ fest flags in. When I was on placement with Queen in London, the student journali
Coming Out as Gay, Coming Out as Vegan
Vegan Lifestyle Articles From All-Creatures.org
Vegan lifestyle articles that discuss ways of living in accord with humans, animals, and the environment.
FROM
Michael Suchman, Main Avenue Vegan
October 2014
We are willing to risk the labels and negative stereotypes to say that we believe that all beings, regardless of species, deserve to live free of human interference. Rallying around the stereotype of Real men eat meat is easy, but that is actually the safer path. It is a real man who declares, I will not be a part of this, when he encounters injustice and bullying.
For many people, coming out can be difficult, often scary. If it were easy, everyone would do it. When we come out, we are calling attention to ourselves, intentionally highlighting what makes us distinct from the perceived norm. For men, coming out as gay or vegan raises the scrutinize of what it means to be a man. Sadly, a gay human or a vegan man is often still not perceived as being a real man by the standards of our culture.
Some of the negative stereotypes of gay men and vegan men are remarkably similar. We are perceived as we
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