This isn’t news: People who are informed and compassionate tend to be concerned about more than one issue. Just witness the tagline for Satya magazine: Vegetarianism, Environmentalism, Animal Advocacy, Social Justice. There was widespread evidence of this dovetailing of advocacy as a month of Gay Pride events wrapped up last weekend.

In San Francisco, Bay Area Vegetarians did vegetarian and factory farming outreach at San Francisco Pride. CARE, Compassion for Animals and Respect for the Environment, sold vegan food and educated onlookers about animal rights at the Philadelphia Gay Pride Festival. And in New York, Farm Sanctuary did outreach, petitioned to ban the use of veal crates, and “adopted out” cows at PrideFest. (And let’s not forget the festivities of the day before, when Liza Minelli hosted the Rubyfruit Pet Pride Pageant!)

So let’s continue to stand up for what we believe in and educate those around us until cruelty and discrimination of any kind no longer exists. And maybe next year, we’ll have a little celebration of our own: Veggie Pride, anyone? The French have been at it for several years now, and I think it’s about time we caught up.

Vive le végéta*isme!

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