Before you were vegan, what did you think about veganism/vegans?

I always respected vegans and wanted to have their discipline tbh. that’s why I cant understand the haters… like, why? ? What about veganism is triggering? Makes zero sense to me.

One time as a kid (15 or so) I was defending a vegan issue so hard that someone agreed with me and added, “You must be vegan.” I was so touched that I didn’t correct them.

As a vegetarian, I considered vegans to be strange and excessive. I didn’t even try to understand it since I didn’t understand it. I’ve been vegan for about 8 years, and my one regret is that I didn’t start sooner.

As far as ethics go, I’ve always agreed with it—it’s difficult to argue against the morally just decision to not murder animals. But I really thought that there were health risks associated with being vegan. I even gave a speech in high school about why people shouldn’t be vegan! How the twists the table, huh?

My exposure to Vegans was with the caricature, you know the one… so I thought it was a joke movement for pretentious white people (Kim Kardashian and others come to mind). I’m from a developing country and my only exposure to veganism was through western media and it was always portrayed as a joke. But damn was I wrong. In my college, I was exposed to some awesome literature on Animal rights, and I started thinking of it as a solid philosophy and I am so convinced about all that we stand for. I have come across some of the kindest people through this community online, and Im so proud of the progress thats been made in the world. I am still the only vegan I know, but I try and gently educate others since I may be the only exposure that a lot of locals have to veganism. Most of the times I have to explain veganism to others and I try not to reinforce those caricatures that put me off in the beginning.

I’ve always respected and aspired to be like vegans, but I was too shy to bring it up in public! It took me a few years to get up the guts to go vegan when, at the age of twelve, I made the decision to become a vegetarian and everyone around me disapproved of it.

I used the “food chain” argument before going vegan. However, I was naive and young! I’ve been vegan for the past eighteen years.

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I decided to go vegan as soon as I learned that it was an option. Before then, I felt that being a vegetarian was the furthest thing one could go, and I didn’t support that. It didn’t seem like a more moral decision, so I was definitely one of those individuals who said, “What about bacon?” Perhaps I would have said the same to a vegan if I had known what one was because I was also a controversial little shit.

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I wasn’t particularly opinionated about it. I tolerated my friend’s vegetarianism even though she endured severe bullying throughout middle and high school. At the time, she was the only person I could think of for advice on a non-meat diet. When asked if I would become a vegetarian or vegan, I did respond that I would never do so.

As a vegetarian before going vegan, I used to wonder, “Why don’t vegans eat milk or eggs? Animals are not killed by it.” Although I didn’t despise vegans, I also didn’t understand them. And I believed that going vegan is really challenging.

Because I believed that people required animal products to thrive, I used to assume that vegans were both kind and somewhat foolish. I believed that eventually, everyone would have to eat meat or they’d get sick. Additionally, I believed that there wasn’t really a moral issue with it because animals were held until they grew old and were then murdered after living for roughly 90% of their lives.

It is my earnest belief that a vast majority of vegans have at some point in their lives said the words “I could never go vegan”. include me.

I used to say things such as “I get why someone would go vegetarian for health reasons, but if you’re vegan you’re just an asshole” . Sayings like “Oh, he’s vegan, but he’s one of the good ones” was something I once did. When I consider who I was at that point, I wince.