The LGBT Life: Being Vegan

by Vegan Culinary Cruises Luxury – All Inclusive – All Vegan

Evidence shows that a number of individuals who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender have an apparent disadvantage in the socioeconomic sector. In one study, 90 percent of surveyed transgender respondents reported experiencing harassment, mistreatment or discrimination at work due to their gender identity (Grant et al., 2011).

Somehow, despite the modern acceptance of today’s generation of LGBT members, compared to the first few years of the 21st century, alienation still exists. Discrimination and alienation may still exist, but fortunately, the quality of life and provision of welcoming environments have expanded in the past years as well.

Because of such improvement in the members’ quality of life, more and more members are joining in the practice of veganism. Veganism is both a diet and a lifestyle commitment to discard all practices of meat consumption. Due to the risk of hidden traces of meat in typical restaurants, bakeries, and travel destinations, some vegans opt for all-vegan establishments and vegan travel destinations.

The Connection Between LGBT Rights and Animal Rights

The improvement of the quality of life and the global acceptance of the LGBT community did not happen overnight. All the members, activists, and social activists sacrificed so much for present members to enjoy a good majority of social approval and same-sex marriage laws that are implemented in countries like the United Kingdom, United States, Argentina, Spain, Mexico, Netherlands and etc.

The connection and similarity between lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgenders and animal rights activists is the pain experienced through bullying and oppression. A lot of LGBT members are involved in veganism because of the knowledge that this happens to animals every day, from farms, laboratories, circuses, to marine parks. According to Dan Hanley, co-blogger of Gay Vegans, both veganism and the LGBT movement fall into their goal of making the world “a better place for all beings”.

Challenges of being a Gay Vegan

There are a number of challenges from being gay alone, and veganism presents another set of challenges as it also serves as a form of advocacy. Being part of 1.16% of vegans in the world, sharing and interacting with like-minded individuals is important to keep up with one’s lifestyle.

Some social challenges gay vegans face are:

Dating: Because food is a fundamental element in most dating settings, misaligning diets can come in the way. Dating becomes extremely challenging because of the fact that you have to choose a partner within the 4.5% LGBT population which are within the smaller percentage that is vegans.

Parties and Social Gatherings: Sometimes it’s painful being the sole vegan in a potluck party or gathering. Aside from having one choice to nothing to eat, you will be inundated with questions as to why you are on a diet or why you are not eating. Somehow, it’s impossible to be vegan at a party without offending someone (like your aunt or your best friend).

Traveling: The ease of travel as a vegan has increased in the past years. However, challenges coexisting within traveling is finding a vegan-friendly destination with little to no traces of meat and animal products in food establishments and buffets in hotels. A trend that is increasingly exhilarating a big population of the vegan LGBT community is the existence of all LGBT vegan cruises thanks to travel providers like Vegan Culinary Cruise.