Meeting in Paris, Saturday the 20th of May 2006 at 2 pm, in front of the Beaubourg Centre
(Centre G. Pompidou, Paris 4th city district ; Subway station Rambuteau, Line 11).

Details on the course of this day are at the end of this message!

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Manifesto of the Veggie Pride

Veggie Pride, festival of vegetarian and vegan pride

Our aims :
To declare our pride at refusing to have animals killed for our consumption
To refuse to rob sentient beings of their sole possessions, of their very flesh, of their very lives; to refuse to take part in a concentration camp system which turns their short lives into perpetual torment; to refuse to do all of this for the mere pleasure of the palate, for the satisfaction of a habit, of a tradition: To refuse to do such things should be just plain decency.

However, history does show how difficult it is, when barbarity is the social norm, to simply say No.

We wish to declare our pride at saying No.

To denounce vegephobia
Instead, they want us to feel ashamed. Vegetarianism is concealed, ignored, mocked, marginalized and even defamed.

Vegetarianism challenges the legitimacy of the confinement and slaughter of billions of animals. Just by existing it breaks the law of silence. This is the reason behind vegephobic mockery and hatred.

Of course vegetarianism is tolerated when it is the harmless sort that claims to be no more than a private choice, a matter of distaste for meat or of concern for personal health or the environment. But woe betides us if we openly challenge the barbarous order!

At first we are laughed at. Caring about chickens and cows is supposed to be ridiculous. Laughing at a disturbing idea is a way to get rid of it without having to find logical arguments against it.

But if we do not give in, the laughter turns sour. At first they found us funny, now they call us monsters. We are traitors to the human species since we would limit its rights. We are unworthy parents for not teaching our children the joys of dead flesh. If we care for animals we must be Nazi sympathizers since Hitler too loved dogs. Our ideas are those of an intolerant cult since they are
different from what others believe.

We are called terrorists; accused of worshipping nature or of breaking its laws. No argument is too farfetched when it comes to misrepresenting our ideas, putting us to shame and symbolically
rejecting us from society.

We refuse to apologize for our compassion. We are proud to declare that we are vegetarians. We are no longer willing to feel shame for refusing to kill. We are here; we are well alive and thinking and
will speak out.

To proclaim our existence
All over the world we are millions of humans saying No to this carnage. Few civilizations have actually taken for granted that eating animals is justified. But when do you hear about those debates? Mentions of vegetarianism are systematically missing in textbooks and biographies.

"The man who eats meat or the hunter who agrees with the cruelties of Nature, upholds with every bite of meat or fish that might is right." - Isaac Bashevis Singer, Nobel prize in Literature.

By stepping forth we also prove that it is possible to live without meat. We live without eating cows or pigs, chicken or fish or prawns. And we are as alive and healthy as anyone else, despite those media-promoted "specialists" whose science consists of denying the facts. Neither vegetarianism nor Veganism (which rejects all animal products, including milk and eggs) has any particular negative effects on health - indeed; current studies tend to show the opposite!

There is no spell that says that to live one must kill. We are not obliged to do so, neither individually nor collectively. Animal husbandry does not provide food, since farm animals eat much more than their dead flesh can render. Despite this, massive public funding supports animal farming and fishing.

To defend our rights
No rights are granted to the animals that are raised and killed for food; but we who stand on their side do have rights, in principle. We are determined to exercise our rights in full, because they are our rights, and because they are theirs - the only rights that they may today, indirectly, enjoy.

We have the right to receive decent meals at school, at work and wherever meals are served to groups of people. We have the right to raise our children without forcing upon them the products of the
slaughterhouse.

We are not willing to have our taxes used to support the raising and killing and the fishing for the tastes of others.

We are no longer willing for our actions and our ideas to be systematically silenced. We no longer accept that the only public voices should be those of the corporations and intellectuals who defend the consumption of flesh.

We demand an open debate.

"We are the mirror of your guilty consciences
and this mirror will no longer hide"

Faced with images of heaps upon heaps of animals "destroyed" for case of bird flu, BSE or foot-and-mouth disease, we alone felt no shame. We were not shameful for ourselves. But we felt shame for all
others.

Above all, we were sad. However much we insist on asserting our pride in saying No to barbarity, this brings us no satisfaction. The animals are slaughtered by the billions. They are held to be dumb, their cries do not count. We shall speak out for them until the massacre halts.

We are animals
and stand in solidarity with all animals!

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Practical details and other informations


The Veggie Pride is a demonstration open to any person who does not eat the animals. Concerning this restriction, check out our Frequently Asked Questions.
 http://www.veggiepride.org/en/faq.php#23

• 2.30 pm : start of the demonstration
We ask that the slogans, signs and streamers be exclusively centred on the vegetarianism or vegetarianism for the animals. The Veggie Pride being a demonstration of individuals expressing their pride to be vegetarians or vegans for the animals, we ask that no initials or name of organization be reproduced on the streamers and signs.

• 4 pm : Arrival at the « Fontaine des Innocents » (fountain of the innocent ones).
End of the procession and installation of a "happening" symbolizing the ocean of suffering and death imposed daily on the animals.

• 4.30 pm - 5 pm : Happening.
The demonstration and the happening will be declared in prefecture in accordance with the law.

• From 5.30 pm : Various activities.

• 7.30 pm : Start of the after-pride.
A party will take place, further details will be given subsequently on our website. Possibility of accommodation or housing amongst inhabitants of Paris.


To come to the Veggie Pride :

The SNCF (the French Railway company) proposes worthwhile tariffs for the tickets taken two months in advance.

To know if a grouped departure is planned from your area, you can contact our regional delegates.

A small ads service is also at your disposal for your requests of car sharing, accommodation, etc. Do not hesitate to use it.


Sign the Manifesto of the Veggie Pride ! Independently of your participation in the Veggie Pride, we invite you to read the text of the Manifesto (see below) and, if you agree with it, to declare that
by signing it.


You can sign it on the Web:
 http://www.veggiepride.org/en/signer.php
You will also be able to sign it yonder, during the demonstration.

To make a donation to the Veggie Pride:
 http://www.veggiepride.org/en/dons.php
Any donation, even minor, will be very welcome.


You can also subscribe to the circulation list by sending a blank email to  vp-Fr-subscribe@yahoogroupes.fr or on the website  http://fr.groups.yahoo.com/group/vp-Fr

Help us to make known the Veggie Pride by broadcasting this message to your contacts!

By wishing you numerous with us on May the 20th,

The organizers of the Veggie Pride.