It seems to me that since I began my vegan journey in 2009, vegan bashing has been going on just about everywhere. It was probably going on for a lot longer than that, but I guess I had no reason to notice.

My first encounter with vegan bashing was at a performance by Joan Rivers at The Westbury Music Fair. I was there with my husband and two teenage boys, and I had been vegan for only a few months. When Joan came onto the stage, she asked “how many vegans are in the audience?” to which she promptly added “oh, never mind, your probably too weak to raise your hands.” My sons began hysterically laughing, while I sat there in amazement wondering why she would even bother to do a joke about vegans.