Taking action

 
I have always thought that if something bothers me, I need to take action to change it.
This thought pattern is up front and center every day while I drive around Los Angeles. Yes, I'm paying attention to the political race, the state-sponsored bigotry in states like Mississippi and North Carolina, racism, the hungry and the homeless and the huge amount of kids living in poverty in the US to name a few.

Yet one thing that I come across constantly and feel like I do have the power to change is the vast amount of litter throughout LA. No matter where I drive, I see it.

Not that big of a deal? Maybe not. Some would say there is nothing I can do, that in a county where there are close to 11 million people, there is going to be litter.

To accept this would mean that I would need to think that most people who live here don't give a shit. They don't give a shit about litter that makes an area look terrible and litter that has an affect on the environment and wildlife.

From my favorite beach to hiking trails, entrances to the highway and along the street in whichever part of the city I might be driving in, litter is everywhere.

As I think of this and of everything else there is going on in the world, I think of little victories. What does a little victory around litter look like? Maybe seeing the flowers on the side of the road instead of litter. We are in southern California after all where there is an abundance of natural beauty. Maybe it's watching the dolphins of of Zuma beach knowing that the bag of litter we cleaned up that morning was not going to make it into the ocean. By the way, the Algalita Foundation here in SoCal estimates that 80% of marine debris comes from human activities on land! Maybe it's being at the on ramp cleaning up litter just to show others that, like them, there are people who give a shit about where they live.

I see myself making a trip to Home Depot for garbage bags and gloves. Nothing ever changes if we don't take action.

As I create a plan on what I can do to clean up LA, remember that there is metaphorical litter everywhere. From you state legislature to city hall to those who torture animals and spread hate among humans, there is enough of that type of garbage out there to keep us all busy.

Take action.

Thanks for reading!

Today is World Vegan Day

Lucy, who lives at Rooterville animal sanctuary.

We have our own day.

Having a blog that includes veganism, I get to interact with folks about veganism every day. Sometimes positive, sometimes negative.

I still get surprised when someone attacks my veganism, which is ultimately a very personal decision for me, one made because I did not want to be part of cruelty and torture that happens so to appease taste buds.

In January I will celebrate 20 years of being 100% vegan which means for 20 years I have consumed no meat, dairy, eggs, honey or any other by-product from animals. Yes, this also means that my belts and dress shoes are not leather and my ties to not contain silk.

As every human my age and up knows, life goes by very fast. It's difficult to grasp that I have been vegan that long. Although I became vegan for animal cruelty issues, the benefits of being vegan as I get older include being healthier. At 47 I ran my first half marathon. Looking forward to my third next May at age 50.

I know many who read my blog are not vegan. I hope I am able to provide here information (see all of the links) and life experience (read the posts) that show how easy being vegan is and how it is available to anyone. Myths around veganism and protein and cost are just those, myths. The benefits around being vegan, to you, the environment and to the animals, are endless.

So happy World Vegan Day.

The 19-year vegan

19 years!

Holy cow!

This month, 19 years ago, I decided to go vegan.

My decision was based on the animals. I had the information and it was time to take action.

In no way does my veganism stop cruelty completely. My being vegan is a way to do the least harm possible to all living beings while I am on this earth.

I realized that my passion and compassion could go beyond my taste buds.

I realized that my passion and compassion could extend from human suffering and take a look at my dinner plate.

I love animals. If I have any control in it, I don't want them to be harmed. I certainly don't want to be  a part of paying others to kill and torture animals so I can eat.

Now 48 (49 next month), I am super grateful that I am vegan. It is definitely the way for me.

It's not enough. But that is for another post!

If you have any interest in veganism, we have links to websites that we feel are helpful.

Thanks for reading!

No gifts, thank you.

I am super grateful to all of my family who, for years now, have donated to a local animal shelter or HIV/AIDS organization instead of getting us a Christmas gift. It's been at least ten years since my parents started doing this, and every time we are back in Michigan we get to see the results. The animal shelter in Bay City where my mom donates in our name even has a brick for me and Mike!

So many amazing organizations doing so much good work.

Every year around this time I like to write about this. It's pretty simple. We have the power to make an intense amount of change by asking our friends and family to donate to an organization we would support rather than get us a gift. I have altered that for some folks who insist on a gift as it's "what they want to do" to say that if you get us a gift, please make a donation of equal value.

Our friends and family have loved this. So have the small, local HIV/AIDS organizations and animal shelters.

Everybody gets a gift. Plus, those who love us get the chance to know us on a deeper level by being a part of supporting groups we support. And they get to learn why we support these groups.

Thanks for reading!

Don't fear the vegans

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.

Thank you for reading!

Loving animals

I remember one day many years ago I was volunteering at a farmed animal sanctuary and during one of the tours a guest told me that they loved animals. My response, with a big smile and loving heart, was that if we love animals the best thing we can do for them is to not eat them.

Not eating animals seems totally radical to many people. In our part of the country animal production is a big part of the economy. Agriculture law and even how some wildlife is treated is based on the economic value of animal production.

There has been a change though. And the change is mainly around how we think about animals. Moving away from animals as products and moving towards animals as sentient creatures, as living beings that feel pain and fear. Even people I have met who still eat animals say that they do not want to be part of animal suffering.

It can be overwhelming to be a meat eater and consider veganism. It can look not only radical, but almost impossible. How on earth could I ever give up cheese? I smile as I write this as giving up cheese seems to be what is on many people's minds when even thinking about becoming vegan. Although I haven't had cow's cheese in 17 years, I think the vegan cheeses these days are delicious. Great flavor and texture without the cruelty.

The how part in becoming vegan is rather simple although I could write several blog posts about it. I started with one animal, pigs. Then cows, then chickens. I thought that process would take a long time. In my path it took a couple of weeks. And that was before I had access to the internet. The internet is filled with information on veganism, recipes, fitness and nutrition ideas that will help anyone as they consider a plant-based life.

Some people take a giant step and one day decide they are vegan. Others take smaller steps, a little bit longer of a process. When thinking of animals and animal suffering, any type of action towards veganism is good.

In my time being vegan, and having met many vegans (the vast majority of whom were not raised vegan, rather made a choice to become vegan), I have come to realize that those people who become vegan for the animal's sake, because they do not want to be part of the inherent cruelty towards animals, find it easy to not only become vegan but to live an incredibly new life they would have never imagined as vegan.

Last night Mike made chunky chipotle mashed potato empanadas accompanied with steamed Swiss chard for dinner and while I was enjoying the incredible flavors I mentally added to my list of things I eat today thanks to fellow vegans who showed my a wonderful new path towards culinary delight. 

And it all began because I love animals.

Building bridges

Whew! What a week this has been.

Summer is coming to an end which I know because my teacher husband went back to the classroom this week, with students returning this coming week. The dogs are already missing having him around all day. At my day job I am counting down the 1/2 day Fridays we have left, only two more! This is one of my favorite benefits at my job, being able to leave every Friday during the summer at noon.

Meanwhile, I have just realized that my blog posting has taken a hit and I have suddenly reverted to just one post a week. My goal has been to write two posts a week, and I will do my best to get back to that. While thinking this morning of this blog, I decided that I want to bring up a topic that comes to mind on a daily basis.

Bridge building.

As in building bridges between communities, between individuals, between those who might disagree on one point and those who might be in disagreement over several points. This whole blog is all about bridge building and supporting those out there doing the building!

This weeks example is an activist friend who wants to support one community's fundraiser but because the fundraiser is a cookout with a very small choice for vegans she has concerns about attending. In this social media world the discussion has become negative on Facebook. After asking for my thoughts when she received a not-so-nice (and personally attacking/judgement) note from someone who disagreed with her, I responded with this:

I am so sorry to hear this. My first reaction is to tell you that I adore you. My second is, welcome to our lives! Mike and I get a lot of this with our blog. The first thing I remind folks is that they do not know me. They only know what I posted. The second is that I will always be an unapologetic voice for the voiceless, all of the voiceless. I am not going to be quiet just because my voice does not equate to someone elses vision of liberation or equality. I must always do this in a loving way, and it is even more vital on FB where many people see and may only read snippets of what is going on.

If I were involved in this I would write a loving/compassionate note to whoever is in charge of organizing this event simply asking that they offer more vegan items so you can not only go, but feel good in inviting others to go and support them.

Sending you lots of love. Dan

My experience here is to see how I can lovingly support a group whose mission I strongly believe in and at the same time be a voice for the voiceless. 

It's not always easy, simple or fun. And please know that I am not trying to simplify what can be a very difficult experience. I am only trying my best to be a loving example of a voice for the voiceless.

Thank you so much for reading. I would love you feedback. You can leave a comment or email me at vegandude@msn.com

Our beloved Shadow

Our 18 year old Shadow passed away yesterday. We are devastated.

I use this blog as a bridge-builder and to show everyone that we all have more in common than not. If you have ever had an animal companion pass away, you know our grief. It doesn't matter if you are vegan or not, gay or straight, what your political or religious/spiritual beliefs are, or whether you're an animal rights activist or not. It just doesn't matter. The pain is the same.

We adopted Shadow when she was 14. I think it's called a "failed foster". We were fostering her and realized that no one was interested in adopting a 14 year old dog. What a miracle for us. I picked her up at a boarding place where she was in the cat area due to being quarantined while they checked her out. She was thrilled to see me and I will always remember her in the truck while on our way home coming over to me and giving me big kisses.

Shadow couldn't see well so when approached her typical reaction was to snap. I loved snuggling her face to face and letting her realize that it was me, and the snap would turn to kisses. She loved having her head rubbed and her neck scratched. She would allow us some time right next to her in the TV room but usually she would have enough of close time and give the signal that she was ready to go to the bedroom.

Her piercing bark was a great welcome after a day at work. All the other dogs would bark and she would chime in from wherever she was. Sometimes she wouldn't even get up, just bark from the bedroom.

Feeding time will be a lot quicker now as she definitely took her time while eating. The other dogs would finish in a couple of minutes and she would take about 20. Mike and I were laughing last night that Monty, one of our Yorkies, would lose his major food source, which was Shadow's bowl as he snuck in bites while she was eating.

I will miss cuddling with her in the mornings and at night, while reading before bed, sharing time with her and watching her shake her head after a scratch session and looking into her beautiful eyes. The same beautiful eyes I looked into yesterday when she left this world.

Mike and I will always remember Shadow. She was a huge part of our family, of our lives, and we will forever be grateful for the time we had with her.

I couldn't write about Shadow without reminding everyone reading that our shelters are filled with senior dogs and cats and all they want is love and a comfy place to sleep.

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for an amazing year from The Gay Vegans!

I first came up with the idea of this blog as we were heading to Florida to visit Mike's mom and posted about it on my fundraising blog. Fundraising is my profession and I've been blogging about it for years. I then decided that I wanted to keep that blog specific to fundraising, and since I refer to Mike and I as The Gay Vegans a lot, decided to create The Gay Vegans blog.

I had no clue.

I had no clue that we would meet so many wonderful, compassionate, loving people because of this blog.

I had no clue that we would be able to promote Meatless Mondays and support over 1500 people in going meatless for one day, many of whom have continued going meatless one day or more a week. A couple have since gone vegan!

I had no clue that we would be able to build bridges between vegans unfriendly towards gay people and gay people unfriendly towards vegans.

I had no clue that there were so many other gay vegans!

Although I did know there were a ton of activists all over working to be a voice for the voiceless, I didn't realize how much love there is out there. We as activists have to support each other. Together we are a much stronger voice for the voiceless.

This list could go on and on. What I want to say is thank you to all of you. Thanks for reading our blog. Thanks for taking action. Thanks for spreading our Meatless Monday messages. Thanks for asking friends and relatives to donate to an animal group or HIV/AIDS group rather than buying you a gift. Thanks for the reposts and retweets. Thanks for speaking out against cruelty, torture, and intolerance. As I write many times, thanks for being a voice for the voiceless. All of the voiceless.

Your support means the world to us!

We are beyond grateful.

And we look forward to 2012 with all of you!

Happy New Year!

Give to those who are making change

My day job is as a fundraiser. I was born to fundraise. I love it. This month I have been working on my yearend campaign, asking people to consider making a financial gift before the end of the year.

As you know, there are hundreds of amazing groups out there making a difference for animals, for the poor, for those persecuted, for the environment, etc.

They ALL rely on people like us to continue their amazing work.

It isn't cheap to do an undercover investigation.

Or to run a soup kitchen.

Or to feed hundreds of animals in a sanctuary or shelter.

You get the idea.

Organizations all over will be sending our year end appeals asking for a donation. Every bit helps, believe me.

Will you join Mike and I in helping these great organizations by sending them or check or going to their website and making an online donation?

There are a lot to choose from, both nationally and in your own area. Check them out. Talk about it as a family. If you have any questions about how your money will spent, give the organization a call.

You can make a difference.

Thanks for reading. And we would love to know who you are donating to! In future posts we will highlight some of the groups we'll be donating to. If you have a Facebook account, you can click to our account from our main page here to see a list of groups we have donated to.