National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman is facing heat for a very unexpected reason. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals â PETA is reportedly taking aim at the young poet and activist for…. supporting milk drinking.
Letâs back up a second and explain. Gorman, 25, recently did an advertisement for the inaugural Womanâs Marathon, a marathon for and by women. âWe know that to be a woman means to be everything for everyone all at once,â said Gorman in her characteristic lilting voice as images of women running flash in the background. âBut when we run, thatâs for us.â
Suggested Reading
The problem, at least according to PETA, is that one of the partners for the race is MilkPEP â an organization that promotes drinking cowâs milk. (Theyâre behind the âGot Milk?â Ads).
âIâm writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of AnimalsâPETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globallyâregarding your puzzling support of the Every Womanâs Marathon,â wrote PETAâs Vice President of Communications in a letter obtained by TMZ, adding âI am a distance runner who competes in several marathons and 50ks a year, and I would no more drink cowâs milk at the end of a race than I would smoke a cigarette.â
The letter continued to list the alleged harms committed by the dairy industry, including âthe metaphorical rape of the environment and the actual rape of cows.â
PETA also appeared to be making a point about the dairy industry being racist â by pointing out that the dairy industry continues to market to African and Latin American people despite large portions of those populations being lactose intolerant.
So far, it doesnât seem as if Gorman has responded publicly.
Coming for the young Black poet â whose speech at Bidenâs inauguration brought countless people to tears, probably isnât going to win the animal rights organization any converts. It also doesnât help that they have a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to talking about race. (Remember: the campaign comparing saying âbring home the baconâ to a racist slur.)
Thereâs absolutely nothing wrong with encouraging people to question the practices of the dairy industry, but ultimately, this seems unlikely to move the needle in either direction.
Straight From
Sign up for our free daily newsletter.