Tyler Oakley and the issue of gays who 'hate' vegetarians

I'm... just... really... sad and tired at the moment.

Tyler Oakley (b. 1989) is a very prominent Internet personality in the young lgbt community. (Not that I know much about the community. But I guess the fact that I know of his existence proves how prominent he is.)

I assume that a lot of kids look up to Tyler Oakley. Good. Being young and different is probably one of the most difficult things there is, and if Tyler makes it easier for you, well, that's beautiful.

Now, I stumbled upon some unfortunate things. Over the years, Tyler's written stuff like this on the subject of vegetarianism and animal rights:

This is just hate. So much hate for... nothing.

I don't think that hate or aggression are solutions to anything. However, I do think that from a very human perspective it makes sense to hate a factory farmer who tortures animals. It can also make sense to hate somebody who's willing to let things like this happen (and make jokes about it). But to bully somebody for having enough backbone to boycott the industry? Really? Why? I don't understand. It simply. makes. no. sense.

The thing that I, as a passionate advocate for animal rights, find the hardest to deal with is the ignorance and indifference of people around me, everywhere, all the time. I know what goes on inside factory farms. Most people have no idea. I'm pretty sure that Tyler Oakley has never even heard the term 'factory farm'; in his mind, a ranch is the paradise-like place that you see in cartoons.

To me, the thought of the modern meat industry is so painful that I actually feel like my heart is broken. All the time. The thought has been killing me for several years now. 60 billion animals every year, tortured heartlessly for nothing. A decade: 600 billion. There are only a few billion of us westerners that these animals are produced for.

My heart is broken. I'm in pain. I would literally die to stop this. This is the most violent thing that we've ever done in the history of our species.

It's a fact that many people get bullied and harassed for boycotting the meat industry. I don't know why. For some people who do support the industry, the mere existence of those who don't seems to be a threat.

To these people, the worst thinkable crime seems to be somebody who boycotts the industry and tells others why it should be boycotted. Okay. We mustn't offend people's right to be as ignorant as they want to be. Let's stop all activism. Let's just let the animals suffer. Being passionate and annoying certainly is a greater crime than factory farming. Let's stop campaigning for gay rights. The kids killing themselves don't need our support, since the bullies have the right to be bullies.

It's somewhat understandable when a white, straight, wealthy, privileged person makes cruel jokes about animal rights. But it's always very difficult to deal with it when the person speaking is somebody who knows how ignorance and indifference can hurt. I hate when black people are against gay rights. I hate when gay people are against animal rights. They should know better. They should know what suffering means. We should unite. We should be a revolution. We should be love.

At the moment, the animal rights movement is at the stage where the gay rights movement was several decades ago.

How long will it take before the situtation really changes? How long will it take before the concept of animal rights becomes mainstream (the way the concept of gay rights has)? I don't know. Things are already changing. I only wish the change wouldn't be so slow and tiring. I have a feeling that the turning point will be when lab-grown meat becomes mainstream. In vitro meat is like the light at the end of the tunnel. We don't need a vegan planet; we need a planet without the animal industry.

It would be beautiful to have the lgbt community supporting the rise of animal rights. Not just Ellen and the occasional rebel. Everybody.

It's interesting that in Finland, I've noticed that the lgtb people are visibly linked to the animal rights people. They work together. If you're gay, bi, or trans, it's relatively likely that you're a vegetarian too.

For some reason, this doesn't seem to be how it is in the US. There is a link, but it's not very strong at all. (Yet.) Gay kids like Tyler Oakley bully vegetarian kids like other kids bullied them, because, well, it's so easy. It's sad and frustrating. It should change. Maybe the difference between Finland and the US is that in the US, people haven't really heard of factory farming yet, whereas in Finland, it is rapidly becoming a mainstream word. And the ones who know what suffering means are always the first ones to react.

Oh well.

I don't know.

If one day my dreams come true and my books make me as famous as I'd like them to, Tyler Oakley will hear about me.

He will read this post. And I hope that it will make him look at things differently. And join the revolution. We need him.

We need love. As corny as it sounds... We need it.