Our Queer Leather Community may not be dying off, but millions of innocent creatures are still slaughtered each year in order to sate vanity's hunger! This queer vegan has never been able to wrap his head around the concept of butchering countless animals in the name of charity, to save countless other (human) animals. Why must such pointless carnage continue, when there are compassionate alternatives that will NOT impact fund-raising in any negative way? In fact, the excellent karma to CEASE this slaughter will most likely INCREASE the funds gained.
The etymology of word "animal" derives from the Latin "anima," which means "a living being, a soul". These dear souls deserve BETTER than their present treatment of mass confinement, terror and murder. NO ONE in this nation is unaware these days, of the ugly torment (in so many ways) that is part and parcel of our animal factories...whether to produce food OR garment. I find it ABHORRENT that brazen vanity is the only justification for their slaughter.
Why is our LGBT Community even PARTICIPATING in this animal holocaust, when we can easily switch to synthetics? Granted, there are issues of pollution and global slave labor when it comes to mass production of ANY clothing, but at least we'd eliminate the senseless death of Gaia's beloved fauna. Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. are all delightful creatures whose innocence give us joy, friendship, and protection...if only we care enough to love them back, or even simply LIKE them.
It is clear to me that this leather fad took off as a clever marketing ploy BY the leather industry, to grab a chunk of the lucrative gay market. Sadly, they succeeded, at the cost of much innocent life...just like the alcohol and tobacco financiers preceding them.
Imagine our Leather Community switching to SYNTHETIC versions. They could take PRIDE in the scent of "pleather" as a bold olfactory statement that no animal was killed in their social and charitable endeavors! While one's duds may not SMELL like leather (though I'm sure this, too, can be rectified through modern chemistry: maybe Liz Taylor could take a crack at it), one can still DRESS like leather, LOOK like leather, and ACT like leather. The parties, the events, the charitable causes will continue as usual, with the added grace that zillions of Goddess's creatures were SPARED from the slaughterhouse.
In these right-wing times when eating meat is seen as a sign of Amerikan patriotism (and those who don't are called commies or worse), it is especially difficult to speak out against these needless killings, whether for food, sport, or clothing. I'm sure I'll take a lot of flack from various bar patrons who read this letter...but I have grown tired of quietly sitting back, derided and excluded simply for not wearing leather.
Perhaps I take this all a bit too personally, for my Lakota name IS "Little Pony". Then again, perhaps I am so named in order to speak out against this global massacre of the Truly Innocent: our long-suffering brothers and sisters who've been tending this planet long, long before we humans ever arrived.
chief-thrac...@bluebottle.com wrote: > Our Queer Leather Community may not be dying off, but millions of > innocent creatures are still slaughtered each year in order to sate > vanity's hunger! This queer vegan has never been able to wrap his head > around the concept of butchering countless animals in the name of > charity, to save countless other (human) animals. Why must such > pointless carnage continue, when there are compassionate alternatives > that will NOT impact fund-raising in any negative way? In fact, the > excellent karma to CEASE this slaughter will most likely INCREASE the > funds gained.
In article <1191049305.536470.9...@50g2000hsm.googlegroups.com>,
chief-thrac...@bluebottle.com wrote: > Why is our LGBT Community even PARTICIPATING in this animal holocaust, > when we can easily switch to synthetics? Granted, there are issues of > pollution and global slave labor when it comes to mass production of > ANY clothing, but at least we'd eliminate the senseless death of > Gaia's beloved fauna. Horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, etc. are all > delightful creatures whose innocence give us joy, friendship, and > protection...if only we care enough to love them back, or even simply > LIKE them.
Are lions and tigers and bears included in that list? Do you think they are evil because they are carnivores?
I wear leather in other circumstances than the ones you describe: I put on protective clothing made from cow-hide when I ride my motorcycle. The cow, having died much more humanely than it possibly could have at the teeth and claws of a predator, no longer needs its skin, but I do. I hope it doesn't bother you that I will go on wearing leather whether you approve or not.
-- Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com> http://www.timberwoof.com "When you post sewage, don't blame others for emptying chamber pots in your direction." ‹Chris L.
Quote: "Many animals from whom these skins are taken suffer all the horrors of factory farming, including extreme crowding and confinement, deprivation, unanesthetized castration, branding, tail- docking, dehorning, and cruel treatment during transport and slaughter."
> no longer needs its skin, but I do.
No you don't. It's not a "need", it's a "want" born of vanity.
> I > hope it doesn't bother you that I will go on wearing leather whether you > approve or not.
Liar.
> "When you post sewage, don't blame others for > emptying chamber pots in your direction."
Although leathermakers like to tout their products as "biodegradable" and "eco-friendly," the process of tanning stabilizes the collagen or protein fibers so that they actually stop biodegrading.
Until the late 1800s, animal skin was air- or salt-dried and tanned with vegetable tannins or oil, but today animal skin is turned into finished leather with a variety of much more dangerous substances, including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives, and various oils, dyes, and finishes, some of them cyanide-based.
Most leather produced in the U.S. is chrome-tanned. All wastes containing chromium are considered hazardous by the Environmental Protection Agency. In addition to the toxic substances mentioned above, tannery effluent also contains large amounts of other pollutants, such as protein, hair, salt, lime sludge, sulfides, and acids.
Among the disastrous consequences of this noxious waste is the threat to human health from the highly elevated levels of lead, cyanide, and formaldehyde in the groundwater near tanneries. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the incidence of leukemia among residents in an area surrounding one tannery in Kentucky was five times the national average.(16) Arsenic, a common tannery chemical, has long been associated with lung cancer in workers who are exposed to it on a regular basis. Several studies have established links between sinus and lung cancers and the chromium used in tanning. (17) Studies of leather-tannery workers in Sweden and Italy found cancer risks "between 20% and 50% above [those] expected."(18)
Raising animals whose skins eventually become leather creates waste and pollution. Huge amounts of fossil fuels are consumed in livestock production. (By contrast, plastic wearables account for only a fraction of the petroleum used in the U.S.) Trees are cleared to create pastureland, vast quantities of water are used, and feedlot and dairy-farm runoff are a major source of water pollution. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, tanneries have largely shifted operations worldwide from developed to undeveloped nations, where labor is cheap and environmental regulations are lax.
"There are many alternatives to leather, including cotton, linen, rubber, ramie, canvas, and synthetics. Chlorenol (called "Hydrolite" by Avia and "Durabuck" by Nike), used in athletic and hiking shoes, is an exciting new material that's perforated for breatheability, stretches around the foot with the same "give" as leather, gives good support, and is machine-washable.
Vegan shoes and accessories are inexpensive, and some are even made from recycled materials.
> "There are many alternatives to leather, including cotton, linen, > rubber, ramie, canvas, and synthetics. Chlorenol (called "Hydrolite" > by Avia and "Durabuck" by Nike), used in athletic and hiking shoes, is > an exciting new material that's perforated for breatheability, > stretches around the foot with the same "give" as leather, gives good > support, and is machine-washable.
> Vegan shoes and accessories are inexpensive, and some are even made > from recycled materials.
The resistance of these materials to abrasion from road surfaces is far, far less than that of leather.
What about my questions about carnivorous animals? Are you going to try to get them to stop eating the fwuffy wabbits?
-- Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com> http://www.timberwoof.com "When you post sewage, don't blame others for emptying chamber pots in your direction." ‹Chris L.
> Quote: "Many animals from whom these skins are taken suffer all the > horrors of factory farming, including extreme crowding and > confinement, deprivation, unanesthetized castration, branding, tail- > docking, dehorning, and cruel treatment during transport and > slaughter."
> > no longer needs its skin, but I do.
> No you don't. It's not a "need", it's a "want" born of vanity.
> > I > > hope it doesn't bother you that I will go on wearing leather whether you > > approve or not.
> Liar.
> > "When you post sewage, don't blame others for > > emptying chamber pots in your direction."
> Why not listen to your own advice for a change?
I think it's a bit to early for you to resort to personal attacks. Unless, of course, you realize that you've already run out of logical arguments. All of yours so far come down to "You must not do that because I say so."
-- Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com> http://www.timberwoof.com "When you post sewage, don't blame others for emptying chamber pots in your direction." ‹Chris L.
On Sep 30, 7:51 pm, Timberwoof <timberwoof.s...@inferNOnoSPAMsoft.com> wrote:
> I think it's a bit to early for you to resort to personal attacks.
That was no attack, dearest...it was a simple but accurate observation.
> Unless, of course, you realize that you've already run out of logical > arguments. All of yours so far come down to "You must not do that > because I say so."
Nope. Again, you lie. I gave you sound references regarding the pollution of toxic waste in the making of leather, as well as the torment of the poor creatures whose skins are used for that leather. It is a shame that you try to cover up your ignorance with arrogance. I will leave you now, as I've made my points--and very well I might add--but you are not so intelligent as to be worth further conversation.
