6 Ways to Queer Your Vegan Valentine’s Day

Five and a half months ago, I moved from New York City to Santa Cruz, CA—a surf town ripe with college students, quiet aging hippies, and, lucky for me, plenty of vegan options (I’m writing this from Café Gratitude, which is not accidentally smack in between my downtown apartment and my office at VegNews). Though I left a fair amount of belongings in a closet in Northern Manhattan, I managed to pack a sore heart—along with my podcast microphone, a smattering of self-improvement books, and a coffee-maker that I have nearly worn out. With a move this big comes a newfound commitment to self-care and self-actualization, and I’ve decided to rise to the occasion. Plus, these days I’m in the mood to #resist—and since part of that resistance means being even louder and prouder about my gayness than ever before (unlike my belongings, I’ve been out of the closet for a long time), I’m ready to queer anything that crosses my path, including Valentine’s Day. Are you with me? Then here’s what I suggest:
 
1. Gay Vegan Music
Set the mood with music. As a child of the 80s, I strongly believe that those tunes should take the form of queer vegan rocker Joan Jett—your perfect (and perfectly hot) V-Day serenader. While it’s true that “I Love Rock and Roll,” what I might love more is Jett’s commitment to the cause, which leaves me very much in the mood (for philanthropy, that is).
 
2. Gay Vegan Chocolate
Chocolate is obviously mandatory on Valentine’s Day, so I recommend queering it up by biting into a Furious Vulva made by artisanal vegan chocolate maker Lagusta’s Luscious. And there’s really nothing more I need to say about that.
 
3. Gay Vegan Dining
No, but really, there’s nothing I love more on Valentine’s Day than eating out. That’s why I recommend that you find your favorite local queer-owned vegan eatery. Some possibilities for rainbow veggie destinations include Two Mammas Vegan Kitchen in Oakland, CA; Vtopia Restaurant and Cheese Shop in Portland, OR; The Amazing Kale Burger in Chicago, IL; and Viva Vegeria in San Antonio, TX. Support your local plant-based queer.
 
4. Gay Vegan Ice Cream
If you’re like me, you’re a gay man trapped in a lesbian’s body, so after you’re done belting the entire soundtrack to anything-Sondheim, you might want to treat yourself to some Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream by VegNews Bloggy Award Winner Vegan Mos. Headed up by dapper husbands Michael Suchman and Ethan Ciment (whose book, NYC Vegan, is about to drop—along with my homesick tears), you’ll fall in love with this duo’s talent to make food delicious, luscious, and sexy.
 
5. Gay Vegan Ethics
Speaking of “the Mos,” they are main players in a video I produced called “Coming Out for Animal Rights,” which captures the stories of how LGBTQ activists have made the connection to animal rights. It’s a different-spoke, same-wheel kinda thing—you catch my drift. Animal rights and LGBTQ rights are actually intimately enmeshed, which is a reminder to each of us to celebrate our love for V-Day by showing solidarity for other oppressed groups.
 
6. Gay Vegan Sex
Right. And no Valentine’s Day is successfully queered without a pleather rainbow flogger. Rest assured that nobody was harmed in the making of that sexiness (unless they wanted to be).
 
Jasmin Singer is the Senior Editor for VegNews, the author of the memoir Always Too Much and Never Enough, and the co-host of the Our Hen House podcast. Keep an eye out for her new column on love and dating, debuting in the March+April issue of VegNews.