Our new website is live!!!

I am ecstatic to let you know that our new blog site is live!

Check us out at: The Gay Vegans

It has been a long time coming. I would love your feedback.

The first post is titled "Suga lived", in memory of our sweet Suga who passed away on May 2nd.

Thank you for your support!

Long live bloggers

I haven't been able to stop thinking about the murders in Paris this week.

A staff of journalists and cartoonists gathered for their weekly meeting. So many didn't leave the room.

And last year amazing, inspiring journalists murdered by the cowards of the Islamic State.

As I watched vigils across France and Europe, I was fascinated that so many people held up pens and pencils in honor of those killed.

As a blogger, I have always felt that we have the power to change the world. To report, to give opinions, to bring thought to conversations, to open eyes and hearts and minds.

I created The Gay Vegans blog to try to build bridges amongst communities and people, to try to be a voice for the voiceless, and to spread my thought that we all have more in common than not.

Blogs I read teach me amazing vegan recipes, about what is going on with equality or animal and human rights issues I am concerned with, about fitness and exercise, and the list goes on.

Around the world bloggers speak out against in justices, against human rights violations, against torture, against animal cruelty and pretty much any issue that affects them or that they are concerned with.

And some are sitting in jail.

Not all bloggers have it made like I do. Yes, I get the occasional hate mail from religious extremists and I write about that extremism often. But I do not have the fear that one day hooded folks will show up at my house and cart me off because I wrote something that offended them.

Thanks for reading!

Bloggers and journalists - killings in France

Just a quick post.

My heart breaks for those killed in Paris today.

So many journalists have been killed recently, or are in prison somewhere.

I have always considered bloggers as part of the journalist family.

Sending big love to all of you. Whatever you blog about, keep doing it. I blog to try to make the world a better place for all living beings, to be a voice for the voiceless and to try to build bridges amongst communities that disagree.

There is SO much to blog about. SO many stories to tell. SO much injustice to consider.

Thank for reading and for supporting our blog.

A day in the life of this blogger

You have a what?

A blog.

A blog?

Yes, a blog. It's called The Gay Vegans.

I've had this conversation many times. While many folks subscribe to many blogs, and others read at least a couple every day, there are still those who just don't get it.

I created The Gay Vegans as a way to be more active as a human rights and animal rights activist, as a way to promote building bridges, to promote activism, and to be a voice for the voiceless.

And I love it.

It's not easy. Being present and active in my marriage. Supporting an amazing life for our dogs and two chinchillas. Working as a fundraiser for an agency that serves young people experiencing the brutality of homelessness. Trying to eat well. Trying to stay fit. And trying my best to carve out a little time every week to write blog posts that I hope others will enjoy reading, get inspired by, and even at times take action based on something they learned from the post.

Life flies by. Some days I totally forget to check The Gay Vegans accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Sometimes it takes me more than the 24 hours I would like it to take to get back to readers who have asked a question or have asked for support with something. Life is crazy busy without being a blogger. Being a blogger just adds to the craziness, which I apparently enjoy!

Writing doesn't come easy to me. At first I would say that I wasn't a good writer. I do believe there is a difference in being a good writer and being a good blogger. I also believe that in time, and with writing many blog posts and listening to others about how to become a better blogger, my posts have gotten better.

As you might know, there are a bunch of different types of blogs out there. The Gay Vegans is all about bringing communities together and being a voice for all of the voiceless, including animals who are brutalized to become food, folks persecuted around the world for being who they are (female, gay, transgender, ethnic, religious, etc.) and trying to spread the message that we all really have more in common with each other than not. Kindness, compassion, passion, action. All of these I try to include in my posts.

The Gay Vegans has been around for three years. In that time I have been inspired and filled with hope by responses from readers of this blog, and at times totally blown away by actions taken based on a blog post I wrote.

I have been thrilled to attend conferences or shows with press credentials as more and more outlets consider bloggers as such.

I am super excited when I think about The Gay Vegans in the future. So much to write about. So many actions to ask folks to participate in. So much love and kindness to spread.

Thanks for reading. I am grateful. And please keep the stories, feedback and comments coming!

Vida Vegan Con sessions Part I

I have written a couple of posts about my trip to Vida Vegan Con 2013 and wanted to share about a couple of more things. This post is Part I of II around some of the amazing sessions I attended. As a new blogger, I mainly spent time in sessions around blogging, writing, technical information and vegan nutrition. One of the amazing things about Vida Vegan Con 2013 was the huge variety of sessions.

Here are some notes from a couple of the sessions I attended.Please remember that these are just notes based on what I was listening to. My goal here is to give you a little look into attending a session. For more information on the folks giving the session, I included their website.

If the sentence is in quotes it's something I heard at the session from a fellow attendee.

First was Blog writing as writing by Gena Hamshaw. Gena's blog is choosingraw.com . She also currently has notes on her session at her blog.

Ideas from Gena about blog writing:

Common blunders of writing. First thing that an editor looks for is narrative scaffolding. Is there some type of architecture holding this together. A start, middle and end.

We have an obligation to make everything polished and professional.

Consult style guide.

Raise the bar.

Think about what you really want to say and what is in your heart.

About page: here is who I am. Mission statement.

Self edit. Edit yourself.Refining ideas on own. Better to sit on a post for a couple of days, edit it, then press publish.

Make post about the issue not you. Your point of view but not all about you.

Consistency matters more than frequency.

The next session I went to was Vegan Nutrition by Ginny Messina. Her website is http://www.theveganrd.com/ Here are some ideas she presented.

Know your facts.

Consider whole body of data, assign different weights to different studies.

What people think we eat: tofu, grass and granola

Demonizing food is fear based nutrition: never, ever eat this food

Science based nutrition : emphasizes foods we should have in our diet. Don't be afraid to have treats.

Supplements: calcium and B12. Collards highest in calcium.

Ethics beyond the plate: others issues beyond food: social justice, gender politics, etc

Making the most compassionate choices as possible.

Putting compassion into practice: Raising money for different causes. Being a good example. Making veganism look accessible and fun. Forgiving ourselves, forgiving others, compassionate to others.

Privilege! I can be vegan but not everyone can. We need to make veganism accessible to everyone.

Why do folks who care about social justice not care about animals? Be patient with people.

"I don't feel a lot of community with many who call themselves vegan."

"My biggest problem is people presenting a problem with no solution."

More to come. Thanks for reading!

Reinvigorated hope

Many times I have written about not giving up, about keeping strong in the fight to be a voice for the voiceless and in making the world a better place for all living beings.

After a few days with vegan bloggers from around the world at Vida Vegan Con 2013 in Portland, Oregon, my hope is higher than ever!

If you read any vegan blog, most likely the blogger was at Vida Vegan Con, or really wanted to be here.

And this amazing group of bloggers who are changing the world in so many ways inspired me and filled my heart and head with hope.

I am sure that the blogosphere will be filled with stories of Portland, mind-blowing vegan food (and lots of it) food,  as well as notes from sessions that covered the entire universe of what bloggers need to know to become better bloggers.

What I want to make sure you know about is that the conference rooms were filled with sweet, compassionate people. People who take time out of their lives everyday to blog about vegan food, animal rights, nutrition, recipes, human rights and so much more.

I met people from all walks of life, from small towns and big cities. People who have been vegan for a decade plus and people who have been vegan for three weeks.

The common theme was compassion and kindness.

One of my biggest surprises was how many people here actually know our blog and even asked me "Didn't you two just celebrate an anniversary?"!  I was thrilled to know that other bloggers read our blog!

So be warned people who think vegan food sucks. Be warned all of those who make a living off of the suffering of animals. Be warned those who don't want the world to know that a better world is one filled with amazing vegan food and a thought process that does not include the torture and misery of any living being. These hundreds of bloggers are going to leave here and continue to change the world. They will never stop writing about compassion and how even the simplest of actions make significant change.

To all of those who attended Vida Vegan Con 2013, thank you for the love and kindness you expressed to meet over the past few days. You changed me. You reinvigorated my hope that we indeed are making the world a better place for all living beings.

My first bloggers conference!

Next month will be the two year anniversary of The Gay Vegans blog. I feel like a new blogger, and sometimes I feel like I"m not even a blogger yet! I have had a blast with The Gay Vegans and continually try to write well thought out, interesting and hopefully engaging posts.

So I am super excited to be going to my first ever bloggers conference, and it will be an all vegan conference! Holy cow! Vida Vegan Con is May 24 - 26 in Portland, Oregon and there will be hundreds of vegan bloggers from around the world. There will be incredible vegan food, lots of sessions where I can learn all sorts of things, and for me, just being able to connect with people whose blogs I love and who I want to learn from.

First things first. I have to get there.

ROAD TRIP!

I have never been to Oregon, or much of Idaho, so I am ecstatic to be able to cover new terrain. My friend and fellow blogger Ryan is flying in to Denver to join me for this trip that will take us from Denver to Portland via Boise, Idaho. So exciting.

I know we have plenty of blog readers in Idaho, so please let me know if there is a place we simply must eat at while driving through. We will spend the night in Boise so most likely will have dinner there. If we are making good time heading west on I 80 we might even take a quick meal break in Salt Lake City which would totally rock it!

I love road trips. I write about road trips.

This road trip will end in Portland, where I will immerse myself into an intense, vegan blogger's dream. So much to do, so much to learn, so many people I want to meet. I feel like a gay teenager going to his first Black Sabbath concert! (that was me by the way, back in 1982!)

Fortunately there are several folks attending Vida Vegan Con who are from Portland and they have been keeping all of informed as to the multitude of vegan experiences possible in Portland. It seems like there will not be enough time in the day! 

And on Saturday night, the Galarama! A huge party to raise money for Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest!

Whew!

My return trip will be solo so I am bringing camping gear to hit a place I haven't camped before, which won't be difficult to find.

Thanks so much for reading. I will keep you updated for sure.

Action of the week: Write a letter

More specifically, write a letter to the editor at your local newspaper.

Almost every day you can find a story that is about something you care about. More importantly, it is about something or someone that could use your voice: an abused woman, a polluted river, a tortured dog or cat, a homeless person or a shot bull elk.

The shot bull elk example comes from a recent tragedy in which a Boulder police officer shot and killed a bull elk in a city neighborhood to the outrage of the community. Petitions have gone up, letters written and many are calling for the firing of the officer.

A letter to the editor is a fantastic way to support something or someone that you believe in. If there is an article in the newspaper about an animal that was tortured and you are outraged, write about it. Be a voice for the animal.

It seems that many people read the letters to the editor. It's a great forum to bring up issues that might be new to some readers and for people who are open to different thoughts and ideas.

And it's easy. Most newspapers are also online, and some have letter options online. One simply fills out the online form and adds the letter into the form. Other newspapers have it so you can just email a Microsoft word document to them.

I have had several letters to the editor published, from letters about gay marriage or anti-gay bigotry to letters about animals in labs or being vegan.

You never know if your letter might create a dialogue, and have someone think about something they have never thought of before.

Try it. And let me know what happens!

Thanks for reading!

Mi primer blog escrito en español

 

En mi blog pasado, escribí sobre mi aventura a Santa Marta, Colombia hace 30 años. Ahora quiero tratar a escribir un blog en español para que pueda practicar el español y tal vez introducir mi blog a personas que todavía no lo conocen.

Para introducirles a nuestro blog si no lo conoce todavía, se llama The Gay Vegans, o Los Veganos Gay en español. El blog es una forma de escribir para mi, escribir sobre mi vida, mi vida con mi esposo, como es ser gay y vegano en un suburbio, la política, los derechos humanos y de los animales, y comida.    

 

Si Ud. habla español tal vez ya sabe que mi español está lejos de perfecto. Trato a practicar cada día pero siempre hay mas que aprender. Discúlpame y sepa que cada vez el español sería un poco mejor que la vez antes.

Ya tengo un año escribiendo este blog y me encanta el mundo de blogs. Cada dia tengo la oportunidad de escribir sobre tantas cosas que me importan, o solamente sobre una experiencia que he tenido. Mientras los cuentos de blog, los comentarios y también los correos de email que recibo, puedo aprender no solamente de una noticia o situación de que no sabia pero puedo aprender sobre una persona y su experiencia.

Les presento como una persona que cada dia quiero mejorar el mundo. Y quiero conocer a personas que quieren hacer lo mismo.

No se cuantas veces al mes podría escribir mis cuentos de blog en español pero por favor sepa que mi meta es hacerlo muchas veces al mes. 

Bienvenido a mi blog. Espero que lo disfrute.