it's really not the same thing at all, though. in both cases youre dealing with the topic of acceptance, but in one instance you have a group of people seeking it (re:the gay community seeking to be accepted, or whatever), and in the other instance you have a group of people fighting against acceptance (re: animal rights activists trying to get people to see that what they've become so familiar with is not okay), and those two things may require vastly different approaches. because one absolute truth about humanity is that eventually people will come to accept anything. so with that in mind, the best approach to make society accept something is through gentle familiarization (kinda like the telus commercials. are they just a Canadian thing? well telus is like some sort of technology company and they have these cute commercials with animals and fun music and the slogan 'the future is friendly', for those of us who were under the impression that the future is actually rather a bit scary. i know the dancing hippos have been a great help to me in coming to terms with the fact that I live in the 21st century), a way of easing into the public consciousness until you're able to say we're here and that all there is to it, and stop having to ask for acceptance. this approach works because you have the predictability of human nature on your side ("man is that creature who can learn to accept anything" in the words of Dostoevsky). but the situation with slaughterhouses and dairy farms is the opposite; society in this case is on the opposite side of the acceptance spectrum. it has accepted the slaughterhouse, become familiar with the idea of it. and once a person accepts something and becomes familiar with it, it is much much harder to make them go back. so the question is how do you make people not accept it? how the f*** do you wake them up? in some cases it may be through soft degrees, bit by bit, but I think there might also be some cases where a heavy dose of brute force is what does the trick. when a person suffers a severe manic break, they don't wake up out of it from gentle coaxing, they wake up out of it through a sharp jolt of electricity to the brain.
besides, unlike with the gay situation that ran the risk of getting worse if not approached correctly, the situation with slaughterhouse animals really cant get any worse, so I think all efforts at breaking down the level of acceptance should be applauded. obviously though I don't think capital punishment is the answer, lol. I don't think capital punishment is the answer for anything. sometimes, though, when i see those news stories about someone who let their 4 year old starve to death or whatever, it makes it really hard for me to be anti-death penalty. but i'd be worried if it didnt make it hard, if it was that easy for me to accept the awful things some people do. the point is, while killing farmers is not the answer, it's okay to feel like you would like to. in fact, I think its better than okay to see what they do as so unacceptable and offensive to your nature that you feel like you would like them to die. it's just a feeling, after all, and much different than actually seeing to their death. so that's how I took vegans post, that he was just speaking from feeling, and not from any active militant stance.
as for gays not being as cute as cows, are you serious? there are some that are definitely as cute, if not cuter, it's just that you're not allowed to say that because some jerk at so-low (surprise!) will come along and say "f*** that bullshit. men don't want to be thought of as cute" or what the f*** ever. my friend, who happens to be gay, is the cutest most beautiful thing, like gizmo from gremlins crossed with brad pitt, if you can imagine that, or like some Adonis of furby-land. definitely cuter than a cow.