Firstly, what makes a vegan? People who identify as vegan do not consume anything that comes from an animal. This includes meat, eggs, dairy and even honey. A large majority of ethical vegans also choose not to wear fur and leather, whilst many who choose to wear makeup only use cruelty-free cosmetics that are created by companies that do not test on animals and don’t use animal ingredients in their products.
Veganism is growing at an outstanding rate across the globe and especially here in the U.K. Due to a study carried out by The Vegan Society in 2016 it used to be thought that there were around 420,000 Brits who identified as vegan in some way or another. However, according to a more recent survey driven by comparethemarket.com, the number seems to be closer to a whopping 3.5m British citizens. To put the number into perspective, that’s around 7% of the population.
This rapid burst in plant-based lifestyle choices across the nation has also been pioneered by a host of restaurants both new and old, who have created cool new ways of adapting plant-derived ingredients into tasty dishes. To meet the growing demand for more meat-free meals, larger chain restaurants such as Wagamama have embraced the change whilst Deliveroo.co.uk even gives users the option to choose their meals from dedicated healthy restaurants and vegan cafes all over the country.
However, it’s not just chefs and savvy restaurant marketing teams who should take all the credit for creating a buzz around the lifestyle. Celebrities are also playing a major role in changing the public perception of vegans by showing off their plant-based recipes and being snapped hanging out in cool new cafés. Here are a few LGBT stars you might know who are also currently flying the meat-free flag.
Ellen DeGeneres
As well as being an active campaigner for LGBT rights, the American talk show host DeGeneres is also a famous supporter of animal rights. The star who came out as lesbian in 1997 was once an ambassador for Farm Sanctuary’s Adopt A Turkey campaign back in 2010, encouraging those celebrating Thanksgiving to give a turkey a home rather than eating one. Not only that, but when Ellen married her now wife Portia de Rossi, the pair even held a vegan wedding, as reported by veganuary.com.
Sia
The “Chandelier” songstress who has collaborated with pop megastars such as Flo Rida, Christina Aguilera, David Guetta and Eminem, first outed herself as vegan to the world way back in 2014. Along with her furry companion Pantera, the Australian born singer has also worked alongside PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) to campaign against animal homelessness. She’s not one to shy away from her beliefs, and whilst not being pushy or overly controversial, she isn’t afraid to encourage her 3.8 million Twitter followers to embrace plant-based living.
Alan Cumming
Scottish-born film, TV and Broadway star Alan Cumming has claimed his diet, which is free from any animal products has been the key to keeping him feeling young and energised. Throughout gay pride festivals in 2016, the Golden Eye and X-Men 2 actor represented PETA by wearing a pink t-shirt with the slogan “Not A Dairy Queen” on it. Also, after performing at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival during the same year, Cumming handed out free dairy-free vegan ice-cream to his fans. He did this as a positive way of celebrating Edinburgh being voted the number one vegan city in the entire UK.
Ellen Page
You may know Ellen Page from her extensive list of Hollywood movies including the likes of the hilarious Juno, the action-packed X Men: The Last Stand and the mind-boggling masterpiece Inception. But did you know she was chosen as one of the sexiest vegans alive back in 2014 by peta.org? The 5-foot-1 actress also isn’t afraid to tell the world all about her beliefs either, and regularly takes to Facebook and Twitter to express her strong stance against industrial farming.
So, there you have it – four inspiring individuals who are not only doing their best to stand up for the rights the LGBT community, but for those of animals too.
