Last night at The Ebell of Los Angeles, PETA President Ingrid E. Newkirk kicked off her Naked Truth U.S. speaking tour to a packed house that included Sam Simon, Jennifer Tilly, Christian Serratos, Tony Kanal, and host Kevin Nealon. And listeners were moved.
While others come in bodies different from our own, we’re all the same inside,” Ingrid said. She asked the audience, “Who are they, and who am I, that I should live and they should die?
The goal of the tour is to show audiences that animal rights isn’t just about “pets,” pelts, or veggie burgers—it’s about persuading people to view all animals as fellow citizens worthy of our respect. And the way that we accomplish that is by doing exactly what Ingrid went on tour to do: Speak. When we do, “we fail to reach some people sometimes, but when we don’t try, we fail to reach everyone,” Ingrid explained.
Determined to start speaking up, yesterday I suggested some activities that my friend could do with his daughter instead of taking her to SeaWorld. And tonight, I’m taking my date to try vegan sushi. That I can do. We all can. As Ingrid maintains, fretting won’t win the animal rights battles, but activism will!
She is known for giving powerful, motivational speeches, so if you can make it to see her on the tour (tour dates to be added soon), please do, and take someone else with you. But if you can‘t, the one thing to remember is that the “naked truth” about advancing the animal rights movement, is simple.
Speak up—at every opportunity.
