By Dan Hanley
Every memorial day I think of friends who died while serving in the military. I also think of all of my friends and family who served or are serving.
Imagine leaving your friends and family for six to eight months. It's not easy. Add wartime situations. Add difficulties at home. The list could go on and on. I served in the US Navy and I know that in other branches time away from the US could be much longer, especially if someone was stationed abroad. People serve for different reasons, typically deeply personal reasons.
Every Memorial Day, and many other times throughout the year, I think of Robert Stethem. We both were serving in the US Navy in 1985. He was a little older than me, and a US Navy Seal. A beautiful man, in many ways. In June of that year he was heading back from a work assignment in Greece when his flight was hijacked by a group of Hezbollah terrorists. He was beaten, murdered, and then his body was dumped from the plane onto the tarmac at the Beirut airport.
He was 23.
Whenever I am at the Arlington National Cemetery I visit his grave.
Another person I especially think of on Memorial Day, and a lot throughout the year, is Steve Voigt. Also a US Navy Seal as well as someone I loved very much. Steve and I became friends through his brother, we all served at the same time. I deployed once with Steve and that deployment was so much more fun because of him. I will always be grateful for his friendship. Steve decided to make the Navy a career. In October of 1986 he was killed in a helicopter crash in the Persian Gulf. He was such a bright, loving light
We all know people who have served.
To all of you who have served, thank you.
To all of you serving right now, thank you.
In loving memory of Robert Stethem and Steve Voigt.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I have many times told a story about when I was in the Navy. I spent many hours on ships standing on an outside part looking out to the vast ocean. I remember looking at the beauty and feeling peaceful.
Then I would start to think. And within several minutes my peace had been turned upside down. By me.
These days I tell another story, which has a lot to do with that. The story is that I can be doing awesome, feeling really good, loving life. Then let me sit and start thinking and boy does that change.
I am amazed sometimes at how quickly I can get absorbed by darkness. Sometimes it takes me by surprise. Most times the reality of my life is that all is really well. I actually have to think of negative things or think of fears or mistakes or people I am having issues with to feel in that dark place.
I know what to do and what not to do to stay out of the darkness.
Tell my husband. Call a friend. Pray and/or meditate. Stop my mental masturbation. Help someone. Get out of myself. Write a gratitude list.
And sometimes I just allow myself to be in that dark place. I try to be the most positive person I can. I try to let go, to live and let live, and to love. Doing this 100% of the time is just not possible for me.
The days of shaming myself for getting into a dark place are over. I actually honor the darkness, or I guess a better way to say what I am feeling about that is to say that I acknowledge it but do not live in it. Like a heard in a meeting once "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I don't have to set up camp there"!
For me the darkness does indeed subside. My dark moments are much less than they were growing up and into my twenties. My family and inner circle have a lot to do with that. Being loved and being able to love certainly helps.
I wanted to share this blog post because I know others get into darkness at times. Social media is filled with happy people. People who are always fine. I wanted to remind folks that even though life is really awesome, sometimes the darkness comes.
And it's OK.
Thanks for reading.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
Many times I have thought about asking the readers of The Gay Vegans to let us know what their favorite vegan meal is. Specifically, the best meal they have had in a restaurant.
The Gay Vegans is not a food blog but every once in a while I do a restaurant review. I also like promoting restaurants in the Denver area where one can get a delicious vegan meal. Most of the restaurants I write about are not exclusively vegan, yet have incredible vegan food to offer.
So this is the time. I would love to know what is your favorite meal that you have had at a restaurant.
It can be an appetizer, a main dish or a dessert.
I know vegan food is exploding around the country, and the world, and I look forward to hearing from you. Undoubtedly Mike and I will need to plan some food trips.
My favorite meal these days is the Mac n Shews at Modern Love in Omaha, Nebraska.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
This past week Mike celebrated his birthday and I decided to bake him a birthday cake.
I'm not a baker, but I must say that I have been enjoying baking more and more.
I grabbed our go-to baking cookbook, "The Joy of Vegan Baking" by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau and I got to work.
Mike's favorite recipe out of that book is the Chocolate Cake recipe. I also used the chocolate frosting recipe!
The cake came out perfect and delicious. Mike loved it.
Now don't laugh at the photo! I said it was deliciousness, not that it came out photo worthy!
The reason I wanted to write a post about this is because making the cake was so simple! I communicate with blog readers all of the time and many of them don't bake because they believe they couldn't do it, that it takes too long and is too complicated. The chocolate cake took less than 15 minutes to make!
Grab a recipe you think looks interesting and go for it! Make something delicious for someone you love or a neighbor or a co-worker. You will have a blast and you'll be able to spread vegan deliciousness which always is a win!
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
This week in Colorado politics saw a bill in front of a state senate committee that would allow transgender Coloradans to change the gender on their birth certificate.
To me, this is a common sense matter. It's a matter that doesn't affect anyone other than the person wanting to make the change official. Right now the process is pretty close to a nightmare. including needing to get a court order.
I quickly learned that the parts of this bill that freak people out are in the details. After I sent a tweet about being disappointed that this bill did not make it out of a Republican-majority committee, I quickly received this from someone who doesn't live in Colorado:
"people w/ penises dont get to change their B.C. to female. Wanna change it? remove the boy bits, morons"
I asked her a question about the bill and about who she was referring to as a moron. Her response didn't include who the moron was but did inform me that this bill allows folks in transition to make the change.
That freaks some people out. After reading about this, I totally get why someone in transition would want to already have their birth certificate changed. Documentation is very important when transitioning and the birth certificate is a huge part of that.
The clear issue for me is that this bill would make life easier for the one person who is transitioning. It has no affect on anyone else.
What is also clear to me after reading testimony against this bill is that some people just don't like trans people. As an article from the Colorado Independent about the bill not passing through committee exclaimed, "Transgender birth certificate bill crashes against anti-gay lobby." One of those testifying against the bill was from the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-gay, "religious freedom" group based in Arizona.
I hope this bill comes back next year.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
A few weeks ago some of my friends went to hear Janet Mock speak in southern California. I had never heard of her but instantly became interested as my friends wrote about being changed by meeting her. Janet is a trans woman and I am reading her book "Redefining Realness".
A quote on the cover says "You will be changed by the book".
Indeed.
I am only in the first few pages. As she discusses seeing trans women out and about (before she came out as trans) she writes "They were dismissed and dehumanized, which made an overwhelming majority of them vulnerable to the harshest treatment, exclusion, discrimination, and violence."
She is writing about trans women but those lines hit me hard.
The man I am today is not the man I have always been. While reading this I was jolted back to the days when my life was what Janet was writing about. Not as a trans woman but as a closeted gay man struggling to come out.
Experiencing unkindness and serious hatred from those in my inner circle and even family members. Not knowing how someone would react, especially when thinking that all would be OK because this person or that person loves me so much.
At 21 being in the middle of the ocean on a US Navy ship and being called faggot, with nowhere to go. The idea that people would be violent towards me was one that took me a long time to get used to. I just could not understand it. At first.
Of course the self-imposed hate and shame are the worst. Yet as I struggled through coming out, I kept being in awe about how hateful human beings could be. And at this point of my story it wasn't the hate and unkindness from strangers, but from people who knew me.
As I kept reading the words that Janet so perfectly wrote, my eyes filled with tears remembering the unkindness. Wanting so badly for my family members to just love me, regardless of what they felt about gayness. Wanting friends in the Navy who knew me so well, knew me as a good person and a good sailor, to take back the hateful words.
It took a long time to let the ugliness go.
As a gay, vegan blogger I get to experience the ugliness of hate and unkindness a lot. These days it doesn't bother me. Those who perpetuate hate and violence and unkindness towards anyone are small people, cowards actually. They are most likely dealing with their own demons. And their pathetic use of anti-gay slurs or threatened violence are sad attempts to break out of whatever crap is going on in their own lives. Don't get me wrong, I call anyone on their bullshit bigotry, but them being a bigot has much less affect on me than it did those many years ago as I was struggling.
(Except when they try to legalize their bigotry. That's a different story!)
Still reading "Redefining Realness". And today I say thank you, with a heart filled with love, gratitude, compassion and passion, to all of those who stood by me in those darkest of days and to all of those who have stood by me and loved me and been a part of my incredible journey ever since.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
A few weeks ago some of my friends went to hear Janet Mock speak in southern California. I had never heard of her but instantly became interested as my friends wrote about being changed by meeting her. Janet is a trans woman and I am reading her book "Redefining Realness".
A quote on the cover says "You will be changed by the book".
Indeed.
I am only in the first few pages. As she discusses seeing trans women out and about (before she came out as trans) she writes "They were dismissed and dehumanized, which made an overwhelming majority of them vulnerable to the harshest treatment, exclusion, discrimination, and violence."
She is writing about trans women but those lines hit me hard.
The man I am today is not the man I have always been. While reading this I was jolted back to the days when my life was what Janet was writing about. Not as a trans woman but as a closeted gay man struggling to come out.
Experiencing unkindness and serious hatred from those in my inner circle and even family members. Not knowing how someone would react, especially when thinking that all would be OK because this person or that person loves me so much.
At 21 being in the middle of the ocean on a US Navy ship and being called faggot, with nowhere to go. The idea that people would be violent towards me was one that took me a long time to get used to. I just could not understand it. At first.
Of course the self-imposed hate and shame are the worst. Yet as I struggled through coming out, I kept being in awe about how hateful human beings could be. And at this point of my story it wasn't the hate and unkindness from strangers, but from people who knew me.
As I kept reading the words that Janet so perfectly wrote, my eyes filled with tears remembering the unkindness. Wanting so badly for my family members to just love me, regardless of what they felt about gayness. Wanting friends in the Navy who knew me so well, knew me as a good person and a good sailor, to take back the hateful words.
It took a long time to let the ugliness go.
As a gay, vegan blogger I get to experience the ugliness of hate and unkindness a lot. These days it doesn't bother me. Those who perpetuate hate and violence and unkindness towards anyone are small people, cowards actually. They are most likely dealing with their own demons. And their pathetic use of anti-gay slurs or threatened violence are sad attempts to break out of whatever crap is going on in their own lives. Don't get me wrong, I call anyone on their bullshit bigotry, but them being a bigot has much less affect on me than it did those many years ago as I was struggling.
(Except when they try to legalize their bigotry. That's a different story!)
Still reading "Redefining Realness". And today I say thank you, with a heart filled with love, gratitude, compassion and passion, to all of those who stood by me in those darkest of days and to all of those who have stood by me and loved me and been a part of my incredible journey ever since.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I write a lot about getting active politically and getting to know those who represent us throughout political levels.
Watching so many people protest in cities around the country for or against issues that are local, I decided to write about being active with one's city council.
Who is the city council member that represents you?
In Lakewood, Colorado, where we live, we have two folks on city council who represent our part of the city. Some cities have one for their area and then some who can be elected city-wide.
The city council has more power than you might think. A lot of politics is local.
I have met with our city council members about issues as diverse as chain laws for dogs kept outside, marijuana stores in town and seeing what can be done to make sure our police officers are trained in a way that they never feel they need to shoot and kill a dog.
Some cities have hundreds of employees. Do they honor same-sex couples? Smaller cities may not even have considered how animals labeled as "pets" are treated. A locally-supported Meatless Monday?
Recently a city council of another suburb of Denver, Castle Rock, were inundated with citizens who wanted them to hold off on slaughtering a colony of prairie dogs so a mall could be built. Those pleading with the council were only asking for time to move the colony. The way some council members treated those speaking for the prairie dogs made me sick.
Find out who represents you on city council. Let them know what issues are important to you. You never know what amazing difference that can make or what voiceless being you could support.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I have been reading news and posts about where people shop (and where they don't want to shop!) and have always wanted to write about where we shop.
Why?
Every week I get emails from folks who are newly vegan. Believe it or not the grocery store is a whole new world when newly vegan, and I often get asked where we shop.
We live in the west suburbs of Denver and have many choices. For the last nine years my main place to shop has been Safeway.
It's a chain, pretty big in Colorado. For those of who shop only at all-vegan markets, you'll want to skip this one.
There are many reasons why I love my local Safeway. There are always items on sale (I love their 10 for $10 specials) and even when items aren't on sale most of what I buy fits into our food budget. They have a great organics section and over the years have progressed into selling more and more vegan items.
They carry national vegan products like Gardein and Daiya and Immaculate Baking. And in some Safeways (not ours yet) the in-store bakeries are making vegan cake. Mmmm.They also have an amazing assortment of breads that don't cost $6.00 a loaf!
I also am often surprised by finding vegan products there that I haven't heard of before.
When I look at all of the places we shop (Safeway, Whole Foods, King Soopers and Vitamin Cottage) I always end up back at Safeway and happy. And so is our budget.
If you have a Safeway in your area check it out. If you live in the Denver area ours is the one at 38th and Wadsworth.
Happy grocery shopping.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
Last weekend I ran into a couple of friends of mine who told me about a 5K race they were running the following day.
I got super excited. I am training for my next half marathon and thought this would be perfect. So I decided to join them.
Fantastic decision!
I arrived to the race and it was 17 degrees out! It was 19 degrees when the race began.
I finished with a time of 34:30. I felt amazing.
At 49 I feel like I am healthier than I have ever been.
I decided to write about this race to hopefully inspire those who want to get healthier. It's possible. At any age. Being vegan and living a live that includes exercise, whichever form, is awesome.
And remember, two years ago I wasn't even a runner. Since then I have run two half marathons.
I try to get to our gym twice a week. I also try to go heavy on fruits and veggies and focus on whole foods. Don't get me wrong, we eat our fair share of processed foods. Have you tried the new Gardein meatloaf! But I must say that over the past several years Mike and I have definitely been eating more fruits and veggies.
I physically feel incredible and I think being vegan and exercising have a lot to do with that!
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I wish I was writing about ET but I'm not.
I recently attended the Creating Change conference and sat in several
sessions about federal detention centers that are packed with people who
are undocumented. I was learning about the how transgender folks are
treated, but learned so much.
I left each session horrified. And angry.
Regardless of how you feel about immigration, how we treat human beings in the federal detention centers is abhorrent.
First, when one is brought in they are given a nine-digit number. The number begins with an A, which is for Alien.
Seriously.
Alien 987654321 has a visitor.
Alien 123456789 is not breathing.
I also learned that on any given day there are 75 transgender folks in a
federal detention center. Their gender identity is not honored and they
are put with what to them are members of the opposite sex. Imagine a
trans woman being put with men.
Yes, violence happens. And so does death.
I guess now is a good time to remind you that we are talking about human
beings here. Just a few weeks before this conference I was telling
readers about a Saudi blogger in jail and being beaten. Now I am asking
you to consider what is happening right here.
I still have so much to learn.
I'll share what I learn with you. I hope you find this as interesting as
I do and I hope it makes you as angry as it has made me. Then we can
make change and be a voice for these voiceless brothers and sisters.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I have used my blog many times to urge people to vote and to become politically active.
So much is going on in our world, in our communities. So many battles going on to support causes we believe in or to fight against issues we believe are wrong.
I believe we have a better chance of being listened to when we get to know those who represent us. Whether it's our local city council member or school board member or those who represent us at our state capitol, we should get to know them.
It starts with a simple email.
"I live in your district and would like you to know that I think ______ ."
Or "I live in your district and would like you to vote yes on this bill."
You get the idea. I send notes to our state rep and state senator when our annual session begins in January. And I keep in touch with them throughout the session.
We can be a much stronger voice for the voiceless when those in political power know who we are.
Now it doesn't always help. Some of you live in areas where your representation is totally against most of what you believe in. I still say to connect with them and let them know how you feel.
Speak out to those in power.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
As we are fortunate to have readers from all over, we get to hear about what is going on in activist, especially animal rights activist, communities around the country and around the world.
Unfortunately the news isn't always good. We often here of communities that are fractured because one person doesn't get along with another, then terrible things are said, and done, people take sides and before the community knows it they have one big mess. She said that. He did that. I can't believe that they are like that. Those others are truly crazy and this is why.
Whew.
It's a shame for sure. The focus is more on fighting each other rather than on fighting those who do disgusting things to animals. Billions are suffering. The fight against that suffering is how many of us met. For the animals.
I wish this could stop.
I have issues with folks too. Recently I forgave a person who approached me and apologized for some things she had said about my sexuality several years ago. I accepted her apology. I won't be hanging out with her, but I forgive her.
I haven't ever slammed someone or been critical of them because of their sexuality (well, I might have been just a tad harsh once with a friend in the Navy who just wasn't gay, no matter how much I wanted him to be!) but I for sure have said things that I later regret.
Forgiveness is powerful stuff.
I know a lot of these issues that people have with each other are not necessarily simple to resolve. Yet they have to be resolved.
In the late '80's and early '90's 40+ thousand people were dying every year of HIV/AIDS. It was a battle to not only stop the disease but to care for our friends and family and community. I remember those days well. Not everyone always agreed or got along. That's an understatement. People were dying every day. Some days all we could do was try to make them comfortable. And there were all the attacks coming from outside of our community by the right wingers. My goodness.
If what was going on now in some animal rights communities was allowed to happen then, I know the epidemic would have been much worse. More suffering. More death. Total disruption of community.
It doesn't have to be like that.
We can reach our hands out in peace. We can gather as a community to fight animal cruelty. We can apologize. And we can forgive.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I spend a lot of time writing about and for journalists and bloggers who are persecuted for simply writing. Hundreds are in jail. Many have been killed.
As a blogger I get occasional hate mail from folks who do not like gay people, do night like vegans or do not like the idea of animals not being anything other than a product, but I have never felt that I could not write or that I would be imprisoned or killed for writing.
Today I ask you to take a moment to spread the word about Raif Badawi. A Saudi blogger, father of three, husband. He was sentenced to ten years in prison and 1,000 lashings for his blog writings.
At this time the next series of lashings have been postponed due to his physical health being so poor from the previous lashings.
I have tried to get as much information about his sentencing and "crime". Rather than write paragraphs and paragraphs I am adding two paragraphs from a Washington Post editorial that for me sums it up nicely:
"Mr. Badawi acted in the spirit of freedom of the modern age. A blogger, he called for open debate about interpretations of Islam. His blog posts were sometimes satirical and sometimes irreverent. They also infuriated the kingdom’s hidebound religious clerics. On Friday in Jiddah, he was given a punishment from a bygone century: 50 lashes, the first of 20 floggings, once a week, to a total of 1,000 lashes for his outspokenness. The word barbaric hardly captures the depth of this depravity.
As we described it last year, Mr. Badawi was arrested in 2008 and questioned about his Web site but released. Then he was charged with setting up a Web site that insults Islam, and he left the country. He returned when prosecutors apparently decided to drop the charges, but in 2009 he was barred from leaving. In 2011 prosecutors alleged that his Web site “infringes on religious values,” and he was arrested in 2012, when a well-known cleric issued a religious ruling that Mr. Badawi was an apostate who must be tried. His Web site was shut down, and his family left Saudi Arabia. A judge threw out the charge of apostasy, which carries the death penalty, after Mr. Badawi assured the court that he is a Muslim. In a subsequent trial he was sentenced to 1,000 lashes, 10 years in prison and a fine equivalent to $266,000."
Ever since reading of this and learning more and more about Raif, I think of him all of the time.
Would you please help me spread the word? We have the power to shine a light on Raif and to support him.
Amnesty International is working hard to get Raif released. Here is a link to their site: help Raif. On their site you can send a note to the Saudi's and then promote that on Twitter and Facebook.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
So many churches and other places of faith express that they "welcome all". Many have cool pastors or clergy or whoever leads them. They are friendly, loving and seem like awesome places to worship.
But many of them are anti gay. To be specific, they believe that gay people are going to hell. To be a little more specific, they believe that gay people who have sex are going to hell.
They might not talk about it. They might try to convince you that no matter what you believe, no matter how many gay friends and/or family members you have, that being in a sexual gay relationship means hell.
They say things like "we're not against something we are just for Jesus" and "it's really between the person and God". Yet invariably something negative will be said about gay people. My favorite is when these same people refer to our marriage as "so called gay marriage".
I acknowledge that this is a difficult topic for many, and that biblically speaking it is a topic with a lot of feelings and emotions.
I also believe that it is well past time for equality-loving folks to stop supporting anti-equality places of faith.
One of the most difficult things for me to experience in my life is watching people I love, and who I know love me, support places of faith that teach that I am going to hell.
I see this often. I am reminded by it all of the time by posts I see on Facebook. It's heartbreaking.
It's heartbreaking because I know these folks love me, and Mike. I know they support us 100%.
Financially supporting places of faith that denigrate gay people, in any way, is taking action against gay people, against equality.
Our church does not believe that we are going to hell. There is absolute love for us as a married couple. Those who preach at our church believe fundamentally that our love, our marriage, is not "sin".
This is a tough topic for both of us. We both have experienced hate and persecution from religious people.
Please don't support them. As with many things, we can vote with our dollars.
Thanks for reading.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I wanted to title this post "Why on earth are The Gay Vegans following me?" but that was a bit long of a title, especially for twitter.
I love building community. And I do a lot of that online. Our blog has accounts on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter. I use each one for different purposes, and I never blindly connect them all so the same post goes to all of them. I do use them to spread my blog posts, but I also use them to meet folks I'd like to know and to build community with folks who might not normally be in community with gay vegans.
Being 48 and wanting to be as healthy as possible, I like connecting with others who work out and are into fitness. When I see someone who says that they are vegan are into fitness too, I like to connect with them.
That doesn't always go over well. So I want to clear the air if you will.
If I connect with you through social media it is because that something you are doing either inspires me, I want more of it in my life, or it's something I want to learn more about.
It doesn't mean I am hitting on you for goodness sake! Or that I want to offend you in any way!
There are a bunch of folks out there who inspire me. They may be totally out about being a follower of Christ, or vegan, or raw, and I make the attempt to connect.
They are not always thrilled. Recently on twitter, a vegan guy wrote how he couldn't believe The Gay Vegans would connect with him. After all, he's Christian, and far right. We exchanged some tweets and after I saw other tweets where he wrote to others saying that he was just going to have fun with us I disconnected.
Seriously?
He is a vegan athlete, including being a runner, and of course I would want to be connected with him.
But I get it. There are just always going to be folks who for whatever reason do not want to be connected with gays and/or vegans.
Another guy, on Instagram, deleted my comment on a photo of his saying that he was inspiring me.
So...
If The Gay Vegans connect with you on any of the social media listed above and you do not want to be connected with us, please just tell me. I will disconnect and all will be well in the world. I honestly only wanted to build relationship and let you know that something you are doing inspires me or teaches me.
I hope this clears the air.
Thanks for reading.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
Have you heard of this?
Awesome idea. The gist of it is to ask people who are not vegan to try
going vegan for the month of January. It is sponsored by a who's who of
animal rights and vegan groups. This post is going live on the 3rd so if
this is the first you've heard of it and you want to try it's not too
late.
As I write many times, I became vegan for the animals. I wanted to do as
least harm as possible. This was almost 19 years ago. During that time I
have learned that my veganism supports the environment and also makes
me a physically healthier person (as long as I exercise and eat the
right foods!).
Want to know more? Here is the official Veganuary website: http://www.veganuary.com/
This site has a TON of information. Even if you are already vegan I
suggest taking a look. Also, you can spread the word to your non-vegan
friends.
Veganism rocks. And personally, being vegan is the perfect fit for me
and really anyone who cares about animals, the environment or their
health.
Welcome to Veganuary!
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
So much is being written about this past election, as if one party had never controlled both the US House and US Senate, ever. We know this is not the case. As a progressive, I remember that, in not so distant time, both chambers and the presidency were controlled by Republicans and we got through it. Yes, it might have sucked and yes there were some bad things that happened, but we got through it.
After spending a lot of time helping candidates I support get elected, and hanging out at election parties, I was reminded that I have always wanted to write a note to those in politics in regards to my thoughts on what they could do better. This goes to folks in all political parties.
Here you go:
When in public, be kind. Don't be arrogant. This goes for your staff too. Nothing is worse than running into arrogance-filled staff members at events. Anyone representing you or your campaign should be rocking it for you in public.
If you were part of something good, talk about it. Even if it means talking positive about someone who is not popular. For example, the economy seems much better off than it was two or four years ago. Certainly better than six years, no matter who is talking about it. Sure someone who hates the President will tell you, when talking about better unemployment numbers, that this number doesn't include folks who stopped looking for employment, but they never have. Never. So it is still apples to apples.
If you like something, admit it. Don't bs us. I firmly believe that folks will respect someone who sticks to their beliefs, even if those folks don't agree with those beliefs.
Thank people. Yes, you won. It was close. Thank those who took their personal time and decided to do what they could to help get you elected or re-elected rather than spend time with their family, go for a run, or volunteer for a non-profit.
Show up. Nothing sucks more than to see ads with you being attacked for not being present at work. This doesn't fly for most of us, nor should it for you. If you have missed a bunch of work, in any capacity, tell us why.
If you lost an election, don't stop. If it is a four year term that is a bit tougher, but for two year terms run again. And again. If you firmly believe that you are a better candidate and would support the citizens better than the other person, keep going. Rock it in between elections and run again.
Give a shit. This is crucial, although many folks get elected who don't. Many folks in politics want to be mayor or governor or president. If that is the only reason you are running for state house or some other position, please don't tell me that. I want to believe that you actually care about the people who you are asking to vote for you. I get that folks aspire to a higher office, and I also want someone who represents me on any level to give a shit.
And my regular readers would be shocked if I didn't include this part. If you want to make change but do not want to get into politics, the least you can do is vote.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
What an amazing week!
Watching gay couples get married in Oklahoma, Virginia, West Virginia,
Nevada. Legal marriage is now in a majority of the states. I wept as I
watched couples who had been together 20, 30 years finally being allowed
to legally marry.
Of course many are not happy. As I write, the state of South Carolina is doing everything they can to not allow gays to marry.
And as hundreds of couples marry around the country, I ask each of you to not forget.
Please don't forget the bigots and the religious extremists. Please
don't forget those who used every waking breathe to keep marriage from
us.
Please don't forget those who had the power to simply say yes, or vote yes, and instead said or voted no.
Please don't forget those who demonized us, and continue to demonize us.
Which brings me to my point.
Many of these same people are running for election or re-election
across the country. Some of them want people to forget their horrible
words and votes against gays and lesbians. Some of them think they will
get more votes by demonizing us.
Don't let them do it. Don't let them win.
We have the power. It's called the vote.
Vote. Make sure they know we haven't forgotten. Make sure we speak with a loud voice.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
By Dan Hanley
I have been vegan for 18 years. I have been out of the closet (openly gay) since 1990for 24 years.
So I am used to dealing with folks who are openly and verbally judgmental towards vegans/veganism and gays/sexual minorities.
Being used to it, many times I just shrug it off. Sometimes I engage in a kind way, especially when it comes to legal marriage or what the Bible says about married gay men living in the 21st century who want to have sex. Or when someone asks "do they really hurt the animals?"
And seldom does this negativity get to me.
Until the other day.
When talking about leaving some vegan food aside for a future day, someone I do not know said "well you definitely don't need to worry about me touching it!" They just said it, not directed to me, but as a public announcement.
Inside I became enraged. Like, WTF. Like, was that really necessary?
The rage stayed inside me for hours. It was tough to let go.
I did, finally.
I do not want to be angry, or carry anger. I don't understand why people judge or shame or ridicule. I don't like it. So the easiest thing for me is to not become those people.
After all, I can't change people. I can only control me.
I like being kind and loving. And I like being vegan and gay.
This post originally appeared on Dan Hanley's website The Gay Vegans. Republished with permission.
