By Dan Hanley
Having been vegan for 18 years, I have been fortunate to see the world change in regards to veganism and animal rights.Many of these changes are good: Vegan ice cream, vegan mac n cheese, felony animal cruelty laws, etc.
I digress.
If you are not vegan, you have nothing to fear from me or my kind.
I do not hate humans. I actually spend a good deal of my life trying to help humans.
I do not hate you. You might "like" meat and to that I say that we are all on our own path. If you ask me about why I am vegan I will certainly tell you. If you don't want to know, don't ask.
No, you cannot visit me and eat meat in our home. Our home is a sacred place to us. You can dine on my husbands delicious cooking, but it doesn't include meat. You can go out for that if you really have to.
We have more in common with what you eat than you might think. Consider that vegans and non vegans eat black beans, broccoli, carrots, Navy beans, spaghetti, linguine, stuffed peppers, kale, Swiss chard, beets, bread, crackers, cookies, ice cream, potatoes, rice, cauliflower, brownies, doughnuts, cereal, oatmeal, apples, oranges, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, tofu, strawberries, mangoes, pineapple, almonds, cashews, peanuts, macadamia nuts, celery, peppers, lentils, parsley, sweet potatoes, yams, soup, spinach, tomatoes, dates, figs, Popsicles, pinto beans, guacamole, avocados, onions, etc. Whew, so many things in common.
OK, I admit it. I snuck in tofu knowing many people haven't had the pleasure of creating a delicious tofu dish.
We eat "real food". I have heard from folks who do not want to visit us because they can't eat real food. Seriously, you will get plenty of real food from a vegan.
People choose to be vegan for a variety of reasons. Mine is that I love animals and want to live my life in a way that does least harm to all living beings. The only ones who need to fear that are the ones who profit from killing and torturing animals. And that fear is really only around money.
We go to work, plant our gardens, volunteer, and try to add to our communities. Nothing to fear there.
We want a world similar to the world you want.
And just like that world, we are as diverse in our beliefs and how to make change than any other community.
If you would like more information on veganism in its many forms, check out any of the links on our main blog page.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
