Gary Yourofsky

Gary Yourofsky
Born (1970-08-19) August 19, 1970
Detroit, Michigan, United States
Nationality American
Occupation Lecturer, activist
Known for Speeches promoting veganism
Website www.adaptt.org

Gary Yourofsky (born August 19, 1970[1]) is an American former animal rights activist and lecturer.

Yourofsky was sponsored by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) between the years 2002–2005, and has given many public lectures promoting veganism. In 2010, Yourofsky's popularity quickly accelerated around the world (especially in Israel[2]) following the release of a YouTube video [3] showing him giving a speech at Georgia Institute of Technology, as the video gained millions of views and has been translated into tens of different languages. Yourofsky has been admired[4] by many, and criticized by others for his alleged extreme views. He has been arrested 13 times between the years 1997–2001, and has spent 77 days in a Canadian maximum security prison in 1999, after raiding a fur farm in Canada, releasing 1,542 mink in 1997.[5][6]

Personal life

Yourofsky was born into a Jewish family[7][8] in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He grew up in Oak Park.[8] Yourofsky has "a giant tattoo of himself, wearing a mask and holding a rabbit, covering most of his right forearm."[9]

In a 2013 interview, Yourofsky described himself as having been a "troublemaker" in high school. He recalled that he did not sign up for any math classes during the entire four years, in deliberate defiance of the requirements; at the end of his senior year he challenged the principal to hold him back, but she approved his graduation instead [10] His website states that he holds a B.A. in journalism from Oakland University and a radio broadcasting degree from Specs Howard School of Media Arts[11] and on November he's announced that he's now retired from activism.

Animal rights advocacy

1996–2001: Early years as an activist

In 1996, Yourofsky founded Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow (ADAPTT), a vegan organization opposed to any usage of animals. By 2001, the organization had around 2,200 members.[8]

On March 30, 1997, Yourofsky, alongside 4 members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), raided a fur farm in Blenheim, Ontario, Canada, and released 1,542 mink, who were to be killed for their fur.[12] The raid reportedly caused damage estimated at C$500,000 to the farm.[13] He was arrested, tried, and sentenced to six months in a Canadian maximum-security prison in 1999.[14] Out of the six months, Yourofsky spent 77 days in prison.[12] The experience affected Yourofsky, who said "[he] was no more than an animal in the zoo. It wasn't pleasant", and that it has reinforced "[his] empathy and understanding of what these animals go through".[13] 'In 1996, he founded an organization called ADAPTT (Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow). He demonstrated in front of businesses that exploited animals. In 1999, he chained his neck to the rear-wheel axle of his car (not for the first time) in Detroit and blocked access to an animal control center in which animals were gassed “in garbage cans with a hose connected to the muffler of a running automobile,” or were sold to a university “for gruesome experiments”'.[15]

In the fall of 2000, Yourofsky received $10,000 from PETA to fund the broadcasting of a commercial against "the animal slavery enterprise known as the circus". The commercial was broadcast 69 times on a local television channel.[8]

In 2001, Yourofsky began facing financial problems, such as credit card debt of USD 30000, that curtailed his activism for three months of 2001.[8]

2002–2005: PETA sponsorship

In early 2002, Yourofsky resigned as president of ADAPTT, due to financial troubles. A day after sending his resignation letter, he received a telephone call from Ingrid Newkirk, president of PETA, who offered him a job. Employment negotiations between the two concluded on May 20, 2002, with Yourofsky being made the organization's official, national lecturer.[16]

In 2002, Yourofsky told a reporter that he would "unequivocally support" the death of medical researchers in ALF-related arson fires.[17][18]

In 2003, a Yourofsky lecture at East Tennessee State University was cancelled as a result of an altercation. A faculty member had placed a stack of pamphlets in support of animal testing on a cart outside the lecture room. After Yourofsky saw the pamphlets, heated words were exchanged. Yourofsky grabbed the cart and propelled it, causing the pamphlets to scatter across the floor. The lecture was canceled and Yourofsky left the building.[19]

2005–present: Leaving PETA and continued activism

Yourofsky was invited to give a talk on "Ethical Veganism" to a class at University of Southern Indiana on April 2, 2007. The university handbook contained a provision that outside speakers must "not advocate violation of any federal or state law.", and a professor at the university presented material from Yourofsky's website that he found to be infringing that policy to the university provost, resulting in the cancellation of Yourofsky's talk.[20][21] After objections from free speech advocates at the school, the policy was revised and Yourofsky gave his talk.[22]

Part of Yourofsky's well known speech on veganism was featured in the 2012 anti-speciesism movie, the Superior Human?[23][24][25]

Yourofsky visited Israel in September 2012 and was interviewed by Israeli television Channel 2.[26] Lectures scheduled for Yourofsky in public schools were canceled by the Israeli Ministry of Education.

Yourofsky's website states that he has given 2,388 lectures to more than 60,000 people at 178 schools.[12]

Controversies

In a 2005 interview, Yourofsky criticized the Humane Society of the United States, the strategies used by PETA, and its president, Ingrid Newkirk. Yourofsky has wished that users of animals and their products such as milk, meat, fur or testing face the same fate that the animals suffer.[7][27] In justification of his beliefs, Yourofsky explains that he wishes those who perform evil deeds suffer the consequences.[27] Yourofsky has been criticized for using terms such as "concentration camps," "concentration camp trucks," and "Holocaust" in comparison to the meat and animal industry. Yourofsky has been banned from entering Canada and Britain as a result of his activism, that included freeing minks held captive for slaughter on a fur farm in Canada.[7] On December 5, 2013, Yourofsky shoved the chair of Israeli journalist and columnist for Ma'ariv's news website Erel Segal, after a heated interview between the two ended when Yourofsky realized Segal was wearing a leather jacket,[28] causing Segal to fall on the floor.[29] Yourofsky was charged with assault, but the trial was cancelled since Yoursofsky had left Israel, forfeiting his bail money.[30] Yourofsky said publicly he had pushed Segal in self-defense.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Gary Yourofsky – "convert 1000s to veganism every year" – My Care2". Retrieved September 19, 2011. [Yourofsky's social media profile webpage containing self-entered data]
  2. ↑ "About the Israeli Campaign". gary-tv. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  3. ↑ [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6U00LMmC4
  4. ↑ Talshir, Rachel (12 December 2013). "Even vegan hero Gary Yourofsky finds it hard to be a guru". Haaretz. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. ↑ North Shine, Kim (7 December 1998). "Champion or Criminal? Royal Oak Animal Activist Faces Trial in Canadian Mink Release". Detroit Free Press.
  6. ↑ West, Evan (March 2006). "Watching What You Eat". Indianapolis Monthly: 90. ISSN 0899-0328. Retrieved March 19, 2012. In 1997, he was arrested for helping to release around 1,500 animals from a Canadian mink farm and was sentenced to six months in prison.
  7. 1 2 3 Darom, Naomi (2012-09-06). "Is vegan superstar Gary Yourofsky an animal savior or a mad militant?". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 2013-12-16. Retrieved 2013-12-16. In that period he was still a meat eater. But one day, when he was filming the trucks that transported animals to slaughter, his gaze encountered that of a pig.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 Lessenberry, Jack (2001-06-24). "Activist devotes life to animal rights". The Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-13. He lives in a tiny apartment with his ancient dog, Rex, and probably could fit all his worldly goods into his car.
  9. ↑ Lessenberry, Jack (2003-06-15). "The lonely life of an animal rights activist in the Midwest". The Toledo Blade. Archived from the original on 2013-12-13. Retrieved 2013-12-13. For a brief time, he was on staff of PETA, People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, but he found that too confining.
  10. ↑ Interview with Yourofsky ([00:20:22]) at the Israeli Educational Television station
  11. ↑ "ADAPTT". Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 "About Gary Yourofsky - ADAPTT :: Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow". Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  13. 1 2 "Gary Yourofsky in the News - ADAPTT :: Animals Deserve Absolute Protection Today and Tomorrow".
  14. ↑ "Gary Yourofsky". Target of Opportunity. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2012-05-10. and was sentenced in 1999 to six months in a Canadian maximum-security prison for a felony raid on a fur farm.
  15. ↑ Darom, Naomi Darom. "Is Vegan Superstar Gary Yourofsky an Animal Savior or a Mad Militant?". Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  16. ↑ Platt, Teresa (2002-07-19). "PeTA and the Making of a Conflict Industrialist: Gary Yourofsky Finally Lands a 'Job'". Fur Commission USA. Archived from the original on 2012-05-10. Retrieved 2012-05-10. Getting a call and/or a request from Ingrid is like getting a call from the Godfather's Don Corleone. It's an offer one can't refuse.
  17. ↑ United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment and Public Works (2007). Eco-terrorism specifically examining the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front: hearing before the Committee on Environment and Public Works, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, first session, May 18, 2005. U.S. G.P.O. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  18. ↑ Don Liddick (1 January 2006). Eco-terrorism: Radical Environmental And Animal Liberation Movements. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 53–. ISBN 978-0-275-98535-6. Retrieved 10 July 2013.
  19. ↑ Thompson, John (2003-04-05). "ETSU event canceled due to confrontation". Johnson City Press. Johnson City, Tennessee: Justin Wilcox. Archived from the original on 2007-11-07. Retrieved 2013-12-06. ETSU public safety officers attempted to keep things from getting out of hand, but the lecture was soon canceled and Yourofsky left the building.
  20. ↑ Kissel, Glen J. (2007-04-16). "University of Southern Indiana Turnaround". Accuracy in Academia. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-14. I examined Yourofsky's website, and found he supports murder and violence as part of his animal rights activism.
  21. ↑ Laksin, Jacob (2007-04-19). "Animal Rights Extremism Meets Academia". FrontPage Magazine. OCLC 47095728. Archived from the original on 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-05-14. Kissel emailed USI Provost Linda Bennett several statements by Yourofsky justifying violence and illegal activity.
  22. ↑ "Chapter News". Quill. Society of Professional Journalists. 96 (3): 7. April 2008. ISSN 0033-6475. Retrieved 11 July 2013. However, the lecture was almost scrapped by the college because of a policy concerning outside speakers. SPJ members stood tall for free speech and worked to have the policy revised.
  23. ↑ "The Superior Human?". Official Movie Website
  24. ↑ Best, Steven (2012-04-02). "Now Online! Debut of New Anti-Speciesist Film, 'The Superior Human?'". Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  25. ↑ Bekoff, Marc (2012-04-02). "The Superior Human? Who Do We Think We Are?". Animal Emotions. Psychology Today. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  26. ↑ Abramovich, Lee (2012-07-14). "TV news segment on Yourofsky's 2012 Israel visit" (video, 10 minutes). Weekend Edition (in Hebrew and English). Israeli television Channel 2. Retrieved 2013-12-11.
  27. 1 2 Gal, Hannah (January 11, 2012). "'In Relation to Animals, all Humans Are Nazis' - Animal Rights Today Part One". The Huffington Post. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  28. ↑ Talshir, Rachel. "Even vegan hero Gary Yourofsky finds it hard to be a guru". Haaretz. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  29. ↑ Ronen, Gil (2013-12-08). "Pro-Animal Activist Slugs Journalist". Israel National News. Arutz Sheva. Archived from the original on 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2015-08-01. The incident took place Thursday when Yourofsky -- who is on his second lecture tour in Israel -- was brought by a TV documentary team to meet Segal
  30. ↑ Persico, Oren (2015-01-08). "דחיפה ב-2,000 שקל" [Push for 2000 ILS]. The 7 Eye (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2015-08-01.
  31. ↑ תגובתו של גארי יורופסקי לפרובוקציה של אראל סגל [Gary Yoursofsky's response to Erel Segal's provocation]. 2013-12-10. Retrieved 2015-08-01.
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