28 Mar 2009
Vegephobia is the new homophobia
One of my best ex-pat friends convinced his Basque boyfriend to adopt a vegetarian lifestyle late last year. It coincided with Christmas and as the night of December 24th loomed, Diego started to worry. How would he tell his Aunt Yolanda that this year there would be no Serrano ham, king prawns or suckling pig for him? How would his mother react when he told her that he wouldn't be trying any of her tuna croquettes? And more disturbingly, what would his friends say when he turned down the de riguer "pinchos" (dead animal laden tapas) in bars over the Christmas period?
I bumped into them this evening and talk soon turned to their vegetarianism. Half expecting them to say that they had given it up for Lent, I was surprised and encouraged by their resilience. In the face of much resistance, they had managed to continue living the vegetarian dream regardless of what society dictated.
Nevertheless, Diego's tale was quite telling.
While we may associate the Basques with ETA terrorist attacks, here in Spain they are equally renowned for their culinary prowess and exquisite food. Therefore, Diego's announcement was to overshadow his entire family's enjoyment of the festive season. As they sat down to a huge Basque surf 'n' turf style Christmas banquet, he was given a plate of cold boiled spinach and told to get on with it. Next stop, Coventry.
Later, the family who hadn't batted an eyelid when he came out as gay tried reasoning with him. His grandmother said it was just a phase. They berated the boyfriend. His uncle Ramón, asked him if he knew that he was in a select club with other vegetarians: Pol Pot, Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan. The family talked about meat dishes all the time. His mother fried more crispy bacon than he'd ever remembered.
However, it was his straight friends who let him down the most. These were the friends who'd cried for joy when gay marriages were legalised, had to be pulled out of gay bars screaming during Pride and who'd gone to the Kylie Minogue concert with him.
There was only one thing that they wouldn't abide. Vegetarianism. A strange concept for the Spanish. Something alien. A bit retrograde. And no Spanish government is going to legislate to can change that. Homos are fine, its just VEGETARIAN homos that might be the problem.
Does anyone dare to organise the first Veg Pride?
