# Discrimination of Vegans

### Vegans are prejudiced worse than people of colour and people who are homosexual.

"omnivores evaluated vegetarians and vegans equivalently or **more negatively** than several common prejudice target groups (**e.g., Blacks**) \[...] omnivores evaluated vegetarians and vegans \[...] motivated by animal rights or environmental concerns (vs. health) especially negatively"

"vegetarians and vegans were evaluated equivalently to immigrants, asexuals, and atheists, and significantly **more negatively than Blacks**. Vegetarians were evaluated equivalently to homosexuals, whereas vegans were evaluated **more negatively than homosexuals**"\
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On a scale of 1-7, non-vegans rated their comfort with hiring a vegan (5.97) on par with renting to a person of colour (5.93). In other words, non-vegans statistically discriminate against vegans in the hiring process, and it is equivalently as severe as their discrimination against people of colour.\
[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430215618253](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430215618253) (MacInnis et al., 2015) (Study 1)

### Vegans face more, or about equal, discrimination at work (33%) compared to people who are homosexual (30.5%).

Vegans discriminated against at work:\
33%: Crossland Employment Solicitors (2019) - a survey conducted by an employment law firm\
[https://www.crosslandsolicitors.com/site/hr-hub/nearly-half-of-vegans-feel-discriminated-against-at-work](https://www.crosslandsolicitors.com/site/hr-hub/nearly-half-of-vegans-feel-discriminated-against-at-work)

Homosexuals discriminated against at work:\
46%: Williams Institute (2021)\
[https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-workplace-discrimination/](https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/publications/lgbt-workplace-discrimination/)

24.5%: Pew Research Center (2013)\
[https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/04/as-congress-considers-action-again-21-of-lgbt-adults-say-they-faced-workplace-discrimination/](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/11/04/as-congress-considers-action-again-21-of-lgbt-adults-say-they-faced-workplace-discrimination/)

21%: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (2019)\
[https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra\_uploads/fra-2020-lgbti-equality-1\_en.pdf](https://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/fra-2020-lgbti-equality-1_en.pdf)

### Hate crimes are committed against vegans.

"between 2015 and 2022, The Times reported a total of 172 vegan hate crimes in the United Kingdom alone. Influential figures publicly add fuel to the anti-vegan fire, with threats ranging from Piers Morgan’s “vegan resistance” to William Sitwell’s desire to kill vegans “one by one.”"\
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/202212/what-can-we-learn-from-studying-anti-vegan-groups-online](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/202212/what-can-we-learn-from-studying-anti-vegan-groups-online)

### Vegans report social ostracization.

Vegans, in the following percentages, reported:

* 9.9%: family member(s) reducing contact
* 3%: family member(s) completely cutting contact
* 24.5%: friends reducing contact
* 7.3%: friends completely cutting contact
* 66.5%: experiencing daily discrimination
* 77%: engaging in mechanisms to cope with discrimination
* 9%: not being hired due to discrimination

[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430215618253](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430215618253) (MacInnis et al., 2015) (Study 3)

### There are clear psychological indicators that the discrimination against vegans is not rational.

"People who are more “pro-beef” (including greater consumers of beef) are even more prejudiced against vegetarians, a finding that holds up cross-culturally (Earle & Hodson, 2017). The fact that the _amount_ of beef one eats predicts the _degree_ of one’s anti-vegetarian sentiment suggests that some of the anti-vegetarian sentiment is motivated and defensive\
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"Reminders that meat originates from animals reduces anti-veg\*n prejudice (by boosting empathy for food animals) and lowers vegan threat perceptions (by increasing meat-based distress); however, it also elevates disgust over eating meat which increases perceptions that ve&#x67;_\*_&#x6E;s are threatening (Earle et al., 2019)"\
[https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/without-prejudice/201910/why-vegans-make-some-people-so-uncomfortable-and-angry](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/without-prejudice/201910/why-vegans-make-some-people-so-uncomfortable-and-angry)\
[https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917304233](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0191886917304233) (Earle & Hodson, 2017)\
[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430219861848](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1368430219861848) (Earle & Hodson, 2019)
