The Vote Is On—Pick the Hottest Male and Female Vegetarians!

For Immediate Release:
February 22, 2006

Contact:
Reannon Peterson 757-622-7382

Pittsburgh — What do American Idol winner Carrie Underwood and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin have in common? They are the reigning king and queen of PETA’s annual "Sexiest Vegetarian Alive" contest, in which visitors to PETA’s GoVeg.com Web site voted for their favorite vegetarian celebrity. Now, PETA has expanded its contest to include the vegetarian boy or girl next door. After the first round of votes was tallied, 25-year-old Pittsburgh native Gene Owens, who attended Woodland Hills High School and now resides in Atlanta, beat out hundreds of entrants from the U.S. and Canada as one of 10 male finalists.

Gene is an up-and-coming singer and songwriter—with two acclaimed albums to his credit—and uses his music to speak out for a variety of social justice causes. He enjoys volunteering with Food Not Bombs, a group that prepares and distributes healthy, humane vegan food to homeless people. Gene lives with his 2-year-old dog, Ezri, whom he adopted from an animal shelter. Gene’s photo and bio, along with pictures of the other hot hunks and veggie vixens selected as finalists, can be viewed at GoVeg.com. The winners will be announced in mid-March.