Before I Begin

This article has been sitting in my drafts folder for almost a week now.

Every time that I looked at it, I was of two minds about publishing it.

One thought was that we should ignore Gary L Francione and let him fade away into the dust of obscurity.

The other was, that by remaining silent I am giving him permission to continue. There was the added consideration that by speaking up myself, I may encourage others to do the same.

In the past I have made commented and written about the racist, ableist, or elitist language that Camp Francione use.

With this article, I am not going to hide or make any false claims about it being personal and hitting a nerve.

Something I have not been able to do with past articles.

If the words appear raw or passionate, as I said, this is personal.

So, without further ado, here it is.

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Once again, a self-imposed leader of a vegan counter movement has thumbed his nose at people and said what he wants.

Once again, he has proved to us why his outdated views and attitude to others are no longer relevant for 2016.

Despite having explained to him how the language that he uses contradicts his stated ‘position’, he

It seems that every time he puts his fingers on the keyboard, he is saying something inflammatory.

Why then, does a movement he despises and doesn’t consider himself part of, give him air time?

Not A Laughing Matter

In what could only be described as an extremely poor attempt at humour, ‘Mr Intersectionality’ made light of the issue of suicide.

You can read that below.

All because of a political decision.

This Time It Is Personal

In the past I have written articles and made facebook posts about the ableist language that Gary Francione and his follower use.

This time he has gone too far.

As someone who’s life has felt the impact of suicide, both as a survivor and as someone left behind, the time has come to say enough is enough.

Gary Francione can no longer be part of the vegan movement, counter or otherwise, while he pays no attention to the damage that his words are doing.

The longer that he is not taken to task for his words, the more he begins to think that others agree with him.

He is also doing an untold amount of damage to other people.

This cannot and should not be allowed to continue.

Some Facts On The Seriousness

Suicide is kills more people in Australia than vehicles.

Last count, 2014, put the number at 2,500.

This means that on average seven people take their own life every day.

This makes it a serious public and mental health issue.

A mental health issue that is preventable.

For someone from such a privileged position to make light of a serious issue that touches the lives of so many people is inexcusable.

Playing A Fake Sympathy Card

Francione says that the reason he didn’t shoot himself that night was that it “would give too much satisfaction to those “animal advocates” who promote welfare reform and single-issue campaigns, and who reject veganism as a moral baseline”.

Making that comment also sticks to Francione’s narratives of being the victim of bullying by those who disagree with him, and that people want to do him harm.

Playing this card has no benefit for anyone other than Francione, as it fits into the death threat wielding stereotype that is popular at the moment.

In Closing

As I have written before, and mentioned at the start of this article, it is time to stand up to the psychological abuse and degrading comments from those within the animal advocacy movement.

I will leave you with these words from Casey Taft of Vegan Publishers