The extraordinary diversity of vegans

By Gloria Stovall

That old English idiom, “you should never judge a book by its cover” is so true and the myth that vegans are weak, thin, and pale and protein deficient could not be further from the truth.  One should not look at a person and try to decipher whether or not they are vegan as vegans come in all shapes, sizes, races, colors, genders and religions; and despite those unique differences, vegans peacefully unite and come together for a good cause, stopping animal cruelty and reducing their carbon footprint.  Throughout my thrilling vegan journey, I have been blessed to have met a plethora of vegans from different religions, backgrounds, genders, ethnicities, and races; and have even become friends with a handful of these awesome individuals.  You see, vegans naturally form strong bonds with one another as a result of having an extraordinary level of compassion and love for animals.  

I can recall shopping at a local grocery store and as I usually do, started up a thought-provoking conversation with one of the cashiers standing by the register, patiently waiting for customers.  She was Caucasian, slim, younger looking, small boned with tattoos, piercings and shoulder length hair that was dyed a light shade of purple.  I had caught her attention as I had been staring and drooling at these assorted spicy tofu salads for at least fifteen minutes, as I could not make up my mind, so I walked over to her and asked for her opinion.  She told me all about the delectable tofu salads she loved the most; and then we started discussing the variety of vegan foods that were available in the store.  Throughout the conversation we discovered we were both vegan and as conversational individuals such as myself love to do, continued chatting about the vegan life; and to make a long story short, I was so thankful to have met another vegan! 

What I think makes all of this fascinating is how opposite we were outwardly as unlike her, I am tall with dark skin, no piercings or tattoos, long black hair and absolutely not anywhere close to being thin; and yet we were both enthusiastic vegans with an ardent love for animals having a conversation without any concern for the others outward appearance.  In other words, vegans are an amazing group of diverse people as we are able to come together without allowing race, appearance, gender or religion to be a hindrance to us helping animals and saving the planet.  If I can be candid, I honestly did not know what to expect when I became a vegan well over a decade ago as I had envisioned there would be a great amount of backlash from my peers and family, but I can honestly say, it went quite well and better than originally anticipated. The vegan community, animal lovers and environmentalists especially welcomed me.  

I absolutely love being a vegan and have no regrets.  I have met a plethora of amazing vegans with diverse backgrounds who love animals with the same fervor and passion that I have; and please know this is not to say non-vegans are not extraordinary and fantastic, but there is something remarkable about a group of people giving up eating animals thus reducing animal cruelty, reducing their carbon footprint thus saving the planet and being conscientious about buying certain products.  

I greatly appreciate you and thank you so much for reading my blog posts and following me!  Have a fantastic day!