Let’s get one thing straight. Actually, no; let’s get no things straight.
In light of reports that I don’t want to talk about in which a vegan icon (who happens to also be a lesbian icon) started eating animal products again, my own vegan lesbian heart felt the need to hone in on some real-deal plant-based queers. Admittedly, I have a complicated relationship with celebrity culture. As a longtime vegan (and longer-time lesbian), I have seen the likes of those whom we arbitrarily put on a pedestal hop on the vegan bandwagon and then later hop right off on a whim, so I’m sometimes hesitant to shine light on them at all. And yet, I exist in this world (in Tinseltown, no less), and I, too, have been guilty of swooning over a star whose ethics (and choice in romantic pursuits) align with my own. So I present to you this list while wincing a bit, hoping that the beautiful women below remain plant-based for the animals, refusing to allow (what I see, anyway, as) a moral imperative to become a passing fad. Regardless of where you fall on the vegan and/or queer spectrum, I hope that you join me in celebrating these ethical pioneers who boldly use both their social status and their social media accounts for the greater good.
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Tig Notaro and Stephanie Allynne
I’ve been a fan of comedian Tig Notaro ever since she lovingly poked fun at parents who say “can you believe it?” when they refer to how shocking it is that their kid is now in kindergarten (“What is she, about five? That sounds about right … Yeah, I can believe that”). So when I found out that Notaro and her wife—actress Stephanie Allynne—ditched animal products (thanks to help from their buddy, and longtime vegan, Alicia Silverstone), I pretty much plotzed. Notaro—whose public battle with cancer became a legendary moment in comedy that shifted the industry toward making space for a deeper level of authenticity—recently took the mic at a fundraiser for medical group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (ah-hem, I was in attendance and stayed on my best behavior), stating that “Having a plant-based diet is the number-one issue. No other politics matter if you don’t take care of that.” Though Notaro doesn’t have an Instagram account, Allynne—whose charming performance alongside her wife in Amazon Prime’s “One Mississippi” makes clear that she’s a rare and astounding talent—is active on the social media platform, and you should follow her until the (rescued) cows come home. Oh, and their cat Fluff has an account, too.
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Linda Perry and Sara Gilbert
Also in powerhouse-couple news, did you know that the lead singer/songwriter of 4 Non Blondes, Linda Perry—and actress Sara Gilbert (known as way more than just Darlene from “Roseanne”)—are ethically motivated vegans, not to mention a pretty adorable pair? Gilbert—who regularly used her platform when she co-hosted CBS’s “The Talk” to tout her decision to eschew animal products—even manages to get mentions of veganism on her new sitcom, “The Conners,” a spin-off of “Roseanne.” For your fill of everything from politics to Dolly Parton, follow both Perry and Gilbert on IG and then feel free to steal my favorite karaoke song (written by Perry), the incomparable “What’s Up?”
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Ruby Rose
You basically don’t get more vegan than actress Ruby Rose, who basically broke the internet last year when it was announced that she’d be playing the world’s first openly gay superhero, Batwoman. Though I fell for the Australian performer and model back when she joined the cast of “Orange is the New Black,” my adoration only grew deeper when I learned that her childhood memory of eating the ridiculously cruel shark fin soup started her on a journey toward veganism. A Ruby Rose is a Ruby Rose is a Ruby Rose; thank goodness for that.
Jasmin Singer is the Digital Director of VegNews, the co-host of the Our Hen House podcast, the author of the memoir Always Too Much and Never Enough, and a really loud-and-proud vegan lesbian.
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