Of all the reasons why Project Runway is turn-off-the-phone-and-lock-the-door must-see television, the inimitable Tim Gunn, whose superb taste is surpassed only by his kindness, is at the top of the list. On last week's episode, Gunn, ahem, shot down designer Josh Christensen when he tried to use real fur. That wasn't about to fly with PETA's 2009 Man of the Year, who promptly told Christensen to part with the pelt, saying, "We're fur-free."

Christensen must not have known that Project Runway has a strict fur-free policy, thanks to Gunn, who narrated PETA's fur farm exposé and  sent it to furry designers. If any Runway fans weren't aware that designers have to go faux or go home, they are now.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

After coming under the Gunn, the Miss Florida USA pageant will no longer award fur coats to its winners. PETA's 2009 Man of the Year, Tim Gunn, wrote a letter to Grant H. Gravitt Jr., the executive producer of the pageant, explaining that animals killed for their fur are electrocuted, drowned, bludgeoned, or skinned alive and asked him to drop animal skins from the competition. Gravitt apparently agreed that ugly fur has no place in a beauty competition, earning him a thank-you from the Project Runway star.
 

 
There is nothing glamorous about cruelty to animals. It's time for all pageants that still give fur coats as prizes, such as the Miss Maryland pageant, to celebrate the beauty of kindness. Sign PETA's fur-free pledge and be beautiful in your own skin so that animals can keep theirs.  

 
Written by Michelle Sherrow

PETA's party for New York Fashion Week was a smashing success, even by Fashion Week standards. Hosted by Project Runway's Tim Gunn and Olivia Munn, the celebrity guests included Taraji P. Henson, Joan Jett, reality stars Lo Bosworth and Stephanie Pratt, and fashion designers Todd Oldham, John Bartlett, and Marc Bouwer, plus many others. They all partied at Stella McCartney's chic New York City boutique while listening to tunes spun by DJ Lady Bunny and munching on delicious vegan hors d'oeuvres.

Co-hosts, Tim Gunn and Olivia Munn

Taraji P. Henson and Lady Bunny

Joan Jett and Todd Oldham

Tim, looking dashing as always, screened the riveting anti-fur video that he narrated for PETA and spoke about how killing animals for their fur is never in fashion. "I'm on a campaign to get as many fashion designers as possible to stop using it," said Gunn. "I'd just like to sit with them and have a talk and ask, 'Is it really necessary?'" And when Tim Gunn talks about fashion, people listen.

Henson, the latest beauty to bare it all for animals, unveiled her sexy new ad and told the party attendees that she stopped wearing fur after channel-surfing and coming across the "I Am an Animal" documentary about PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk. What she saw changed her entire perspective on fur, and she resolved to help others see the light."You don't have to kill an animal because you want to be hot and fly," she said. And she promised the crowd to keep on pushing to get fur off the streets.  

Written by Michelle Sherrow  

On Tuesday, the New York City Council passed two vital bills—one that bans the chaining of dogs for longer than three hours and another that nearly triples the licensing fees for unaltered animals. Both these measures will undoubtedly spare countless dogs and cats an enormous amount of suffering.

Project Runway's Tim Gunn and comedian Joan Rivers had both championed the bills on PETA's behalf. In a strongly worded letter to the City Council, Rivers wrote, "I hope this Tethering Bill passes not just for the sake of the poor dogs tied up outside in the cold, but for the sake of the sons of b*****s who do this—because what I'd do to the creeps would be far worse than what any police officer would do!"

Councilmember Christine C. Quinn expressed her support in less colorful terms. "Tethering an animal for an extended period of time is cruel and unusual," she said. "This bill will not only prevent this type of unnecessary cruelty, but also increase public safety for pedestrians throughout the City."

The law makes New York City one of more than 100 localities throughout the U.S. that have restricted or banned chaining. You can help by working to get a chaining ban passed in your town.

We know that you love to talk about how much you love PETA (we love you too!), but if some jealous type ever responds, "Dude, PETA's soooo gay," don't get offended, 'cause it's totally true! Here are a half-dozen reasons why: 

1.      Cruelty is a drag. Long before the current flock of RuPaul wannabes ruled the airwaves, PETA enlisted drag divas—including Lady Bunny, Lypsinka, and Flotilla DeBarge—to shed some light (and throw some shade) on animal abuse.

2.      Give a gal a break. PETA has always been a lesbian haven—from Ellen DeGeneres to k.d. lang to Sara Gilbert—even before they come out!

3.      Can you make out our message? PETA's famous make-out tours have not only been girl-on-girl but also guy-on-guy, because all vegetarians make better lovers—no matter whom you love.

4.      Pride in our work. PETA's Oakland office is a fixture in San Francisco's legendary annual Pride Parade, but instead of tossing beads (which wouldn't go with what you're wearing, anyway), they toss literature about the benefits of a vegan diet.

5.      You can hear a name drop. With apologies to Logo, our famous friends include the crème de la crème of the real gay A-list. (Reichen and Rodiney? Girl, please.) Perez Hilton, Martina Navratilova, Lance Bass, and Tim Gunn are just a few of the celebs whose love—of justice for animals—dare speak its name.

6.      Closets are for clothes—as long as they're not made from fur, leather, or wool. The staffs of PETA and the PETA Foundation include plenty of out-and-proud LGBT folks, from yours truly to PETA's senior (but eternally young) V.P. of campaigns, Dan Mathews, who was named one of Out magazine's "Power 50" and whose exploits—including an attempt to turn leather men into pleather men—are detailed in his witty memoir, Committed.

Let's face it: Animals don't care whether people are GLBTQ or none of the above—they just need us to help them. To learn how, take a look at this.

Written by Jeff Mackey

PETA pal Joan Rivers is using her unmistakable voice to support two important dog-related bills that are under consideration by the New York City Council. Today, Joan fired off a letter to City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, expressing her support for bills that would encourage New Yorkers to get lifesaving spay and neuter surgeries for their dogs and would protect dogs from being chained up like old bicycles for longer than three hours in any 12-hour period.

Check out what Joan has to say about people who force their dogs to live outdoors in the cold!

Fur-free fashion guru Tim Gunn also sent a personal note to Speaker Quinn in favor of these bills, so support is building. If you live in the Big Apple, be sure to encourage your City Council member to vote in favor of these vital bills!

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

Although it made countless compassionate fans wrinkle their noses (and made Eminem remark that it stank, and made Ellen DeGeneres back away), Lady Gaga's dress made from slabs of animal flesh is likely to be a popular Halloween costume this year. So PETA has an animal-friendly idea for vegan fans who want to dress up like Gaga without making people gag-a. How about a faux-meat frock, made from cotton instead of chopped steak?

Grab some fabric paints and plain white fabric—a couple of old, oversized T-shirts or even a sheet will serve nicely. Shape your dress with scissors, safety pins, and twine, and paint it with a rainbow of rotting flesh colors—red, brown, and a dab of purple, here and there. Of course, you'll want to leave some white visible to represent the marbled fat. (Gag!) We found instructions and this video tutorial online.

Or how about fashioning a phony-bologna bikini or a Tofurky tunic? The most important accessory is a visible label to indicate that no animals suffered to make the outfit. Print out this ready-made sign to show that your costume is cruelty-free:

With a Tim Gunn–style "make it work" attitude, it should be a cinch for you to create a killer Halloween costume that no animals had to die for.

Send us photos of your creation, and we might feature it in an upcoming blog post!

Written by Karin Bennett

Project Runway's eighth season premieres tonight, and coincidentally I just heard about an opportunity to let judge Michael Kors know what we think of his designs—which include real fur. Kors tweeted that he will be answering questions from his fans in a Facebook video on August 4. Let's take him up on his offer and flood him with questions, such as "Did you know that animals are skinned alive for their fur?" and "With all the luxurious faux furs that are available, why do you continue to kill animals?" or maybe "Would you submit to a brain scan to see if your empathy neurons are underdeveloped?"

Perhaps your question will be the nudge that Kors needs to get him to follow the lead of Runway star and PETA's 2009 Man of the Year Tim Gunn. Tim narrated PETA's video exposing what animals endure for fashion, he ensures that Project Runway's challenges are never fur-related, and he has worked to make a fur-free zone out of Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.

Let's all urge Michael Kors to say "auf Wiedersehen" to fur! E-mail your questions to: events@michaelkors.com

Written by Lindsay Pollard-Post

It wasn't easy to choose two people out of the slew of celebrities who have taken action for animals this year—heck, just during the past two months, Joanna Krupa bared her true feelings about purebred pups, Ana Ortiz blasted McDonald's, and a blinding number of stars all agreed that protesting the Canadian seal slaughter fit their caring personalities to a T.

womenshair.about / CC

But we had to make a decision, so this year, PETA's Man of the Year is Tim Gunn and PETA's Woman of the Year is Ellen DeGeneres. I must say, we're over the moon about it!

Let's start with Ellen—ever since she and her wife, Portia De Rossi, decided to ditch all animal products in 2008, Ellen has made sure that her wildly popular talk show includes features to raise people's awareness of animal issues. She made vegan pizza with Chef Wolfgang Puck, spoke with Dr. Neal Barnard about the health benefits of a vegan diet, and just in time for Thanksgiving, "talked turkey" about the everyday abuse of animals on factory farms with Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Eating Animals. Ellen also created pages on her Web site that feature insight, info, and tips about cruelty-free living. Visitors can find recipes, read about why Ellen went vegan, learn where to shop, and more.

stylenews.peoplestylewatch / CC

Now on to Tim Gunn: The connoisseur of class, the guru of good taste, the titan of tact (I could go on all afternoon with these) narrated our video exposing skin-crawling atrocities suffered by animals who are slaughtered for their pelts, and the media have been buzzing ever since. Tim recently told the L.A. Times, "Wearing fur is like wearing a big sign reading, 'I'm in favor of inflicting cruelty and pain on animals as a fashion statement.' Unspeakable torture is inflicted on dogs, cats, bunnies, raccoons, foxes, minks, and myriad trapped, helpless creatures in the name of fashion—yes, dogs and cats."

And thanks to Tim, fur challenges are noticeably absent from Project Runway—and there's zero fur at Liz Claiborne, where he is chief creative officer.

So, to Ellen DeGeneres for her exuberant embrace of cruelty-free living and to Tim Gunn for his thoughtful and thought-provoking messages of compassion for animals, we at PETA are dancing in the halls. Thank you, thank you! And conga-rats!

Written by Karin Bennett

I know we've got Project Runway fans out there, especially after the show's guru of good taste, Tim Gunn, appeared in PETA's anti-fur video.

If, like me, you watch the show obsessively caught last night's episode, you probably did cartwheels in the living room when one "Divorcee Dress Challenge" client, Stephanie, insisted that Nicolas use no wool, silk, leather, or fur in his transformation of her old wedding dress into an outfit she could enjoy as a single woman. I believe her exact words were that she wanted him to be certain "no animals have to suffer."

Now if only Stephanie's snarky designer had spent less time rolling his eyes and more time fashioning a knock-out design instead of ho hum separates, he might have won the challenge. Either way, Stephanie gets top marks for speaking up for animals.

Written by Karin Bennett