Drag Queen, P.E. Teacher Are Finalists in PETA’s ‘Sexiest Vegan’ Contest

LGBTQ Activists Battle It Out to Take Top Honors—and a Tropical Vacation

For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2018

Contact:
Moira Colley 202-483-7382

PETA is preparing to crown this year’s “Sexiest Vegan Next Door” and two LGBTQ activists are vying for the title after beating out hundreds of other entrants from across the nation to advance to the final round of 20 contestants. Visitors to PETA.org can help PETA select the two winners—one man and one woman—who will each receive a free vacation for two to Maui, Hawaii, courtesy of Humane Travel.

New Yorker Honey LaBronx went vegan just one month after she started doing drag eight years ago—a move that shocked her Wisconsin dairy-farming family. Now, her touring show raises funds for animal organizations across the country, she hosts the Big Fat Vegan Radio podcast and The Vegan Drag Queen Cooking Show on YouTube, she’s promoted vegan eating at NYC Pride and RuPaul’s DragCon, and more. No stranger to activism, she was arrested in 2011 for blocking traffic in New York City to campaign for marriage equality alongside her drag mother, Bob the Drag Queen. “I love bringing my animal rights message to places where people aren’t necessarily expecting it,” says LaBronx. “The novelty of watching a drag queen lead a cooking demo can spark a great conversation that otherwise might never happen.”

Melissa Faulisi, a health and physical education teacher in Baltimore City Public Schools, went vegan along with her wife on Earth Day two years ago. Now, she incorporates information about healthy vegan eating into her lesson plans, runs a vegan meal-planning service, and wrote a grant that supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to her students—many of whom live in inner-city food deserts. “I pride myself in being a positive role model,” she says. “As a gay woman I understand the power structures and inequalities that exist in our world. Animals face even greater oppression and I want to be their voice in this fight for freedom.”

“Both of these dedicated vegans are passionate about standing up for justice—for everyone,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “Like all the finalists in PETA’s Sexiest Vegan contest, they prove that a clear conscience and a compassionate heart are the secret ingredients to sexiness.”

Voting to help PETA determine which finalists it should select as the winners ends at 12 noon EDT on May 14. PETA will select the winners based on several factors, including vote count. See the full contest details here. Winners will be notified and announced on May 21.

For more information and to cast your vote, please click here.