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6 December 2018

PETA criticised for comparing ‘speciesism’ with racism and homophobia

The animal charity compared phrases like 'bring home the bacon' to slurs against the LGBT community

By Steve Brown

Words: Steve Brown

PETA has been criticised for comparing speciesism with racism and homophobia.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals campaign has a history of outrageous campaigns to try and sway people from not eating meat and take a more human approach to the food we consume on a daily basis.

But their latest campaign has been criticised on social media after suggesting phrases such as ‘bring home the bacon’ are similar to slurs against LGBT people and people of colour.

PETA – whose senior vice president Dan Matthews is an openly gay man – tweeted: “Words matter, and as our understanding of social justice evolves, our language evolves along with it.

“Here’s how to remove speciesism from your daily conversations.

“Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start ‘bringing home the bagels’ instead of the bacon.”

Following their tweet, many people took to the social media platform to hit back at the animal charity.

One user wrote: “@peta really compared ‘speciesism’ to racism, homophobia and ableism then got boom roasted in the comment section.”

Another urged the charity to apologise for their comments saying: “Sorry, but racism and homophobia are real.

“I find this statement offensive and dumb. PETA should retract it with an apology.”

Another wrote: “Ya you’re right, words matter. But if someone cannot tell the difference between a metaphor and a literal statement then maybe words are not the problem.

“Also don’t compare these socially understood metaphors to racism and homophobia, they’re not on the same level. #Thankyounext”

A lawyer also commented on the campaign and recalled moments he had experienced homophobia on the streets.

He wrote: “Hi, @peta. As someone who has had homophobic slurs shouted at him and seen individuals physically threatened and beaten while anti-LGBTQ epithets were hurled, your stupidity is not even laughable— it is offensive to equate common animal idioms to racism, ableism, or homophobia.”

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