There's plenty of LGBTQ+ accounts out there I've come across and started to follow on Instagram over the past few years. One that has stood out to me more recently is @devthvally in particular because not only do I stalk their page for style inspo but noticed they are vegan and outspoken about social justice causes as well. I wanted to interview Olly to shed a light on gender constructs and open the conversation up for some education so we can all get a little more comfortable with the subject. I hope this interview can help you gain knowledge or inspire you or make you feel supported. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think and if you want us to keep doing these types of interviews!

BxB:  How long have you been vegan and how did you discover veganism?

OLLY:  About 3.5 years now! I never really understood or learned about veganism as I was raised so far from it and mainstream media didn’t help one bit. One day I realized I knew quite a few queer vegans and wanted to know what it was all about, since I trust the community. It was something that was subconsciously on my mind for a very long time, as consuming dairy and meat has never sat quite right with me physically or mentally, I just didn’t know why. Once I was mentally healthy enough within myself to make the connection and educate myself to the point of no return, the switch was as easy as breathing. My entire world opened up and I became more excited about food and my own physical and mental health. Having said that, my lifestyle isn’t led by my health or agenda, I am more concerned with morals, all of which go against the meat & dairy industry, factory farming, torture, etc. If it’s vegan - healthy or not - I’ll eat it !

BxB:  Do you think there is a link between veganism and gender? Also why is intersectionality important the vegan movement?

OLLY:  Not necessarily, but I do think there’s a link between veganism and the queer community. There is also an unfortunate link between veganism and privilege which is why intersectionality is so important. I find a lot of vegans are queer and vice-versa, but sometimes they are white feminists / environmentalists - meaning they put animals before humans of minority (aka POC). For example, white vegans who care about the environment but wear dreadlocks and think All Lives Matter or support only inaccessible vegan businesses or don’t put the same energy into human activism. When they are oppressing/unfairly benefiting from humans but living a “cruelty free” lifestyle but buy sweat shop made nike…. their white & wealthy privilege is clouding their judgement. Humans need their own equal rights, sometimes before they can focus on animal rights. Not to say people don’t and can’t do both, but you can’t judge someone’s choices with less privilege. I can say after fighting for my own rights, my loved ones rights, for intersectional feminism and left wing politics, etc - it’s tiring fighting for animal rights too, but I do it. Some people have a lot more against them, which leaves no room for anything but bare survival. Intersectionality is beyond imperative to veganism, as to feminism, otherwise we’re just regressing. There are plenty of valid reasons why people cannot be vegan (poverty, geography, mental or physical health, etc) and there needs to be space for that. Rather than put them down we can focus on fighting to improve this mess of a planet by using our privilege; which in turn will create more space, education and accessibility to veganism.

The word veganism unfortunately has the same weird negative stigma that feminism used to (and still does to some), but hopefully as with feminism, that will change, because it is misguided.

BxB:  Describe your style.

OLLY:  Skater boy // minimalist // monochrome // genderless // confused // frustrated ???

BxB:  What defines you?

OLLY:  My morals, my partner, my success (I’m a Leo), my chosen family, my hair and my socks.

BxB:  Can you tell us what pronouns you prefer?

OLLY:  they/them - thank you!

BxB:  Can you explain what NB means and why you identify with that?  

OLLY:  NB means non-binary, which means you identify outside the binary, as opposed to within the male or female binary. Whether you’re genderless or fluid or anywhere in between, you’ll essentially fall under this umbrella. Some trans people aren’t non-binary as they are just born in the opposite body. But very often trans people are non-binary, like myself, as regardless of what physical transition they choose if any at all, they don’t fit in the binary of male or female. This is also becoming more common as gender is slowly being blurred and broken down. For example, I know some trans men who are slowly starting to realize they might be non-binary, and only chose the term man because they thought there were only two options.

BxB:  Can you tell us how it was for you growing up and if there was a time you felt more yourself than ever before?

OLLY:  Growing up was tough. I had all this anger, self-hatred and depression which I now know stemmed from dysphoria. I have 5 brothers - I was always jealous of everything they had and hated everything about myself. I just remember dressing like a “boy” and avoiding the mirror. I have never fit in anywhere, especially school and my family. I now know that societal binaries are the main reason for this…. I don’t fit in, and that’s not a bad thing. I actually recently realized that I demonized my mom and idolized my dad for no reason other than who I wanted to be / look up to. I had this irrational distance from my mom because she would treat me like her little girl and try to bond through womanhood, which made our relationship so toxic and completely enflamed my rage and dysphoria. Hopefully one day she will understand why I was and am the way I am - which is a huge reason I started my project Otherness - I want my family to understand. Obviously growing up in a small town wasn’t helpful, and my world completely opened up when I moved to a major city in Australia, then tenfold when I moved to North America. I feel like I’ve finally found my people (NYC ily), and never really fit in Australia for blurred reasons. So I guess now is the time I feel most myself, and I think it will always be the present, I am growing and learning about myself every day, and society is (though sometimes doubtful) progressing.

BxB:  As the LGBTQ+ and gender constructs keep expanding and becoming more accepted, what is it that you think people outside of these communities should know about us?

OLLY:  I think some important things would be that there aren’t “boxes” as they’ve created in the outside world. No one is the same - like snowflakes - identity/expression is solely one’s own choice. I feel like if someone from the outside world really took a minute to get to know someone and their feelings and identity, they would be so much more accepting. People are just scared of things they don’t understand or aren’t educated on, and it’s really unfortunate because they’re missing out on some great friends who are now just being oppressed because of it. They should also remember that almost everything is a construct (NOT REAL) and society is forever evolving and progressing. Listen to your kids, listen to the future, listen to love and kindness; not hate or oppression.

BxB:  For someone out there struggling with their identity, do you have any advice for them?

OLLY:  Find people like you. Move closer to a major city if not into it. If this is not an option or you’re still underage - use the internet to find your people - there’s tonnes of us!! Sign up to magazines/websites (some good ones are them., Out, Posture, DapperQ), find queer folks on instagram + tumblr + twitter, etc, pay attention to the queer & trans celebrities that are showing up. Know that you are not alone, take your time with your own identity. Don’t worry if you can’t figure it out - you don’t need a label! I honestly question myself every day and have quite literally no idea what’s going on. But that’s ok, the world is evolving and we can evolve too. Just make sure you’re safe - you are the future and you are beautiful.

BxB:  Tell us about your project called Otherness, what inspired you to create it and what your goal is for it?

OLLY:  Otherness started because I was mainly sick of non-binary trans people having no place anywhere, and people thinking “trans” meant only ftm (female to male) or mtf (male to female). I was also sick of people - including family - having a completely warped and stereotypical view of queer and specifically trans people. I wanted to give us a platform and showcase how beautiful and different everyone is. With diversity at the core, I’m hoping to ease people via visual and/or audio stimulation into our world - they need to see the colors, they need to hear the language, they need to feel the fire. A couple of goals would be to make trans people feel heard and important - both the subjects and the audience; to have an art opening/installation in Brooklyn next year, with all the content all over the walls and queer pop-ups and DJ’s, etc etc; and to actively fight the patriarchy.

BxB:  How do you want to change the world?

OLLY:  I want to break down stigma & stereotypes in the fashion industry and the world in general by being myself! I love confusing people and making them question everything they know, and the more visibility I have, the more people will do that. I want to make this world safer and more accessible for binary and nb trans folks and future models, and I want to use my body and mind as the tools for that. Of course, at the same time I would love to educate as much as possible about veganism and work towards a more intersectional, accessible and diverse vegan community. I put the time and energy that comes with my privilege, into helping anyone who asks and is willing to learn.

BxB:  Tell us what you like about BEETxBEET.

OLLY:  I love the style and designs so much - they fall oddly specifically along my exact vibe haha - black & white, minimalist and vegan! I enjoy the fact that Jacky herself is queer - as a lot of vegan businesses are run by non-intersectional white vegans. The design of all the product is really on point and the message and approach is super cool and casual - I hope to see them thrive forever!

Metalcore and Yoga are a match made in heaven. Well, at least for the Weinhofen's. Besides being vegan activists, Jona is a musician, social influencer and digital marketer. He shares the journey of discovering veganism 18 years ago and growing up in Austrailia. Michelle left the entertainment industry for a career in yoga and wellness.

Read more

“IF I KNEW ALL THE THINGS I KNOW TODAY, I WOULD HAVE GONE VEGAN SO MUCH EARLIER IN MY LIFE.”

Multi-talented and self-taught musician Hunter Burgan plays bass for punk influenced rock band, AFI. Hunter shares some stories with us about finding a vegan lifestyle and growing up in a musically inclined family.

 . . .

I grew up around a lot of music, my father is a musician and there was always music in the house whether it was his band rehearsing or the family jukebox. As soon as I was able to play an instrument I would pick up anything and play it—the piano or my dad’s guitar, eventually saxophone, drums—anything. It always felt like a natural thing, but I never thought that I would be so fortunate as to be a professional musician. That would be the coolest thing in the world! I always thought I’d play music but didn’t think I could make a whole career out of that, so I feel very fortunate. 

When people ask me what AFI sounds like it’s a tough question to answer because every album sounds a lot different and certainly the band at age 15 sounded a lot different than we do now at age 40. But, I usually will say rock or alt-rock. 

My favorite part about what I do for a living is just getting to play music for people or for myself. I love music and it’s always been a part of my life. Just being able to share my creativity with one person or 1,000 people is really rewarding.

My first memory of music has to be when I was two, my parents had a jukebox that I couldn’t reach the buttons on but I loved the song Bo Diddley by Bo Diddley so I’d ask them to play it over and over for me.

I’ve been playing all these instruments for decades but I never really learned how to play them formally. I just pick them up and play them. I never took lessons on piano or guitar, definitely not bass guitar. The only thing that would come close is playing saxophone in school band for 8 years. 

All of my immediate family lives in Northern California. My mom plays music - violin and accordion. My sister plays musical saw and theremin and plays from time to time in a jug band or sits in with bands.

Every year or two my family will get together around Christmas and perform for our friends and family—Christmas songs and little ditties. We pick a random assortment of instruments to combine and it’s pretty fun.

My mom likes to rehearse a lot in advance but my dad and I like to improvise on the fly so sometimes it doesn’t come together quite as well because we don’t take the time to be prepared.

My personal philosophy about instruments is to have them sitting around. That way there’s very little between you and the musical expression. I usually have all my instruments set up. Sometimes I get out of the shower and I’ll have an idea for a song and I just wanna figure it out right away. If the instruments were in cases and I had an idea it could end up as a voice note on my phone and nothing might ever come of it so it’s better to have them ready to go. 

On tour it’s like an adventure, I roll into a new town and there’s certain things I need to find. I drink coffee so I want to find some coffee and then I want to find some vegan food…or as I like to call it, food. And of course, the reason I’m there is to play a show. It’s all part of the experience. When I think of different cities—Chicago, New York, Portland—I think of what vegan food is there, what coffee shops are there, my friends there and the shows I’ve played in front of fans. Traveling is a lot of fun no matter if it’s a new city or a city I’ve been to 100 times.

Every city has it’s own feeling, group of people, weather—It’s nice to be able to go from one to the next and have different experiences.

 . . .

I have been vegan for 17 years. When I first heard about veganism I was a teenager in high school and the only people I knew were vegan punks. They were vegan as a very decisive lifestyle choice in an attempt to better the world around them and be the change they wanted to see in the world. I really admired that but I didn’t know anything about what it would take to be vegan. I was interested but I didn’t know what to buy or to not buy. There wasn’t an easy resource for that since this was before the internet had the vast amount of information it does now.

In the beginning I tried it out and it lasted about 3 months. I started as a junk food vegan and lost weight because I didn't know how to eat real food. I fell back to vegetarianism but then I went through a long 8 year transition and finally figured it out. If it were today it would have been a lot shorter. The 8 years wasn’t me taking my time to figure it out, the world hadn’t figured it out yet. 

When I finally made that step it was really easy and I realized I was almost already completely vegan and it just took an extra leap of faith. At that point there were a few resources available. Nothing like today though, today it would be so easy to go vegan. 

My first consideration when I stopped eating meat was that it just seemed wrong, it wasn’t something I should be consuming. Not just on a moral level but on a health level. Even aesthetically it seemed like it wasn’t something I should be putting into my body.

Some things that helped me transition were having friends to relate to that were vegan, touring with other vegan musicians and having 100% vegan restaurants around me. It made me feel safe to know I could go into a restaurant and eat anything there rather than having to figure out what I could eat by asking a bunch of questions. Reading the book Diet For A New America by John Robbins was an eye opener back in the '90s, but now it’s easier than ever to figure out what to eat through YouTube, blogs, websites, google, etc. It’s almost too easy. You don’t have any excuses because everything is right there for you.

“Veganism isn’t a dietary trend but I’m apprehensive that people will feel that way. It’s an ethical and moral choice, not a way to lose weight.”

The more you remove yourself from animal consumption, the more you realize it’s pretty gross and sad. If I knew all the things I knew today I would have gone vegan so much earlier in my life. I would have gone vegan from the earliest age that I even understood what that means.

One thing I noticed people are concerned with when asking me about veganism is the idea of it being all or nothing. My experience  transitioning to veganism was not all or nothing, it was an evolution that took time and was gradual. Even when I started out there were things I didn’t know. It's easy to unknowingly consume animal byproducts if you haven't learned to avoid them. You just have to educate yourself. The more everyone can do, the better. Do the best job you can and then try to do better.

Before I moved to LA I would visit for business and I didn’t love it. One of the times I was visiting I found a cute quiet neighborhood that was artist friendly and I realized oh, Los Angeles isn’t just Hollywood! There are other areas! Ha. I eventually decided to move here. One of the motivating factors was that the vegan food options were greater than in Oakland where I was living at the time—and since then it’s quadrupled!

For me, the driving factors of living a plant-based lifestyle are that it provides a healthy mind, healthy body and healthy planet.

I support BxB because it’s a good message and delivers that message in a stylish way.

I don’t try to push my opinions on other people but if someone wants to ask me about being vegan, I'm happy to talk to them. Something as simple as a t-shirt design can be an ice breaker and can open that conversation up in a way that isn’t awkward for anyone.

. . .

. . .

I was honored to be featured as a modern creative on the Alternative Apparel Common Thread Blog. I used to work for Alternative as a graphic designer and freelance for them every now and then these days. Here they show the graphics I created for 2016 Gay Pride which they sold on their website and in retail stores. 

We are honored to be featured on the BELLA+CANVAS blog with our Animal Liberation design to show how Discharge Printing works on their new black heather fabrics. This video was shot on location at Deluxe Screen Printing. 

We love using B+C blanks because they are sweatshop free, made here in Los Angeles and are fashion forward with a super soft feel. 

Check out the blog post and video.

Discharge Printing on BELLA+CANVAS Black Heather from BELLA+CANVAS on Vimeo.

LISTEN NOW 

BEETxBEET PODCAST | EP006 | Holiday Survival With Jason Wrobel

Today on the show is Jason Wrobel, a vegan chef and wellness expert whom you might know from the first primetime cooking series on the Cooking Chanel called How to Live to 100 or maybe from his popular YouTube channel the J-Wro Show or maybe his new Cookbook Eaternity which dropped this year or if you are in LA you might have seen him perform his hilarious stand up act at a local comedy club. A jack of all trades, a creature of habit, a devout cat lover Jason Wrobel brings his A game in this episode as we sift through many vegan myths, dive into dealing with depression, answer how to not strangle your loved ones over your tofurky meal at Thanksgiving, vegan dating tips and discuss the current election affects on the vegan movement as well as some other interesting topics.

-----------------------------------------------

:: More Jason ::

website: http://www.jasonwrobel.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jasonwrobelofficial

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/jasonwrobel

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jasonwrobel

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/jasonwrobel

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/jasonwrobeltv

Snapchat: @JasonWrobel

Notes:

——————

BUY JASON’S BOOK ON AMAZON

https://www.amazon.com/Eaternity-Deliciously-Recipes-Healthy-Satisfied/dp/1401947883/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479794952&sr=8-1&keywords=eaternity

VEGAN PRODUCTS AT WALMART, COSTCO, & TARGET WITH VINCE LIA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZtuTXpokbI

13TH - DOCUMENTARY ON NETFLIX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66F3WU2CKk

ANIMAL EQUALITY ORGANIZATION

AnimalEquality.net

POP LOCK & SHOP IT EVENT

donate.mercyforanimals.org/poplockandshopit

CHAMPIONS FOR CHANGE

SocialCompassion.org   

TOUCHING THE TRAIL PODCAST

touchingthetrail.com

------------

Listen on itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vegan-myth-busters-holiday/id1100554499?i=1000378156844&mt=2

Listen on Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/s?fid=98805&refid=stpr

------------

________________

BEETxBEET is a apparel and awareness brand dedicated to helping you look good while promoting a conscious lifestyle. Our mission is to save the planet one vegan at a time.

www.beetxbeet.com

LISTEN NOW 

Andy Tabar is an animal rights activist and the founder of the t-shirt company Compassion Co. which boasts beautiful illustrative artwork on environmentally friendly tees in order to affect social change by setting a positive example and creating opportunities for conversations with others. Andy has been a vegan for 9 years and was involved in the hardcore/punk rock scene for many years after starting a band in high school. Through his travels with his band he found veganism and a love of t-shirts in art form. From this Compassion Co was born. Now a nomad on the road to conquer as many veg fests as possible, Andy blows my mind with his minimal living philosophy traveling around the US with his entire life inside of his van. Andy also has a great podcast he co-hosts called The Bearded Vegans.

Andy has notably completed three tours with FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement) 10 billion lives tour. Today we discuss the topic of body shaming in the vegan community and the myth that if you are vegan you must be a skinny hippie white girl.

Unfortunately, Andy has dealt with fat shaming/ body shaming and opens up to tell us his experience and why this is an important subject to shed light on and spread awareness to help people in similar situations and change the views of others. 

-----------------------------------------------

:: More Andy ::

website: http://www.compassionco.com/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/compassionco

Instagram: www.instagram.com/compassionco

Twitter: twitter.com/compassionco

Notes:

------------

THE FLAMING TSUNAMIS (Andy’s former band)

https://theflamingtsunamis.bandcamp.com/album/externalities-3

BIG FAT VEGAN ZINE (Resource and support for Fat Shaming)

http://veganwarriorprincessesattack.com/i-am-a-fat-vegan/

THE BEARDED VEGANS (Andy’s Podcast)

http://thecommentist.com/beardedvegans/

Dulce Vegan Bakery, Atlanta

http://dulcevegan.com/

Avra Epstein, Love Wild Live Free Blog

http://www.lovewildlivefree.com/

“The foundation of being able to sustain yourself on a very tight budget is already vegan food. ”

“There’s so many products on the market right now that make transitioning to veganism a lot easier than it has ever been.”

- Michelle Cehn & Toni Okamoto

------------------------------------------

Our guests on todays episode are Michelle Cehn & Toni Okamoto. Michelle Cehn is on a mission to make the world a kinder place on video at a time. She is the founder of World of Vegan and YouTube personality who has reached millions through her creative, relative, and engaging vegan videos. She has over 21k subscribers on YT and over 52k followers on IG. She is all about showing people that veganism is easy, accessible and fun. Worldofvegan.com is a great resource for  recipes, books, videos, news and wellness surrounding veganism and a helpful resource for beginner vegans as well as veteran vegans.

Toni Okamoto dedicates her life to bringing awareness to farmed animal issues, along with lack of food accessibility and nutrition education in low-income and communities of color. She is the Founder of Plant Based on a Budget, one of the fastest growing vegan food blogs, which has been featured in Reader’s Digest, Huffington Post, Colorlines, and many other international news sources. Plant-Based on a budget offers you a wide variety of budget friendly recipes and meal plans to help you cook delicious food without spending a fortune.

-----------------------------------------------

:: More Michelle ::

website: http://www.worldofvegan.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/Worldofvegan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldofvegan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/worldofvegan/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/worldofvegan

:: More Toni ::

website: http://plantbasedonabudget.com/

website: http://www.toniokamoto.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGvPMfeZRjr39xGTnIm0dmg?feature=watch

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlantBasedOnABudget

Twitter: https://twitter.com/plantbasedblog/

Notes:

------------

THE FRIENDLY VEGAN COOKBOOK DOWNLOAD

https://payhip.com/b/Zyd6

COW-CON Event

http://cow-con.com/

------------

Listen on Soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/beetxbeet/vegan-myth-busters-making-vegan-easy-with-michelle-chen-toni-okamoto

Listen on itunes:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/beetxbeet-podcast/id1100554499?mt=2

Listen on Stitcher: Search BeetxBeet

------------

________________

BEETxBEET is a apparel and awareness brand dedicated to helping you look good while promoting a conscious lifestyle. Our mission is to save the planet one vegan at a time.

www.beetxbeet.com

Wow! How cool is this? Our Go Vegan Right Meow children's tee has been featured in Das Vegan Magazin. Even though we do not actually sell this shirt anymore in a children's size it's cool to see it in a publication. We decided not to make the children's size anymore because it was hard to sell but lately we have had inquiries for it. Hmmm, should we re-stock it? You tell us!

“I challenge people to give it a try and see how much better you feel, how much better your workouts are gonna be, your recovery time…I feel like I can work out twice a day, day after day after day and it’s not just because I’m super human, it’s because I’m fueling my body with the right foods and I swear by it.”

- Vanessa Espinoza aka Plant-Based Muscle

------------------------------------------
Our guest on todays episode is Vanessa Espinoza. Vanessa explains how she has built her rock hard body over the years through dedication, commitment and consistency relying on plants as a way to achieve her best self. Proving her worth in the weight room and in the boxing ring Vanessa brings a fresh perspective to the male-dominated industry with 16 years of experience lifting, 10 years of personal training and 13 years of living compassionately. We discuss how female’s can sustain and build muscles just like men without the need for animal products. If you are curious how you could build a stronger body without harming others, Vanessa can show you the way.

-----------------------------------------------

:: More Vanessa ::
website: www.plantbasedmuscles.com/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/plantbasedmuscle
Twitter: twitter.com/plantbasemuscle
________________

Notes:
Robert Cheeke
www.veganbodybuilding.com/?page=bio_robert

------------
Listen on itunes:
itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/vegan…00373894364&mt=2
------------