Photos: Students Launch Nationwide Push to End Human Supremacy

For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2021

Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382

This week, Gen Zers wearing animal masks are hitting the streets with super-size photos and video footage of animal-abusing industries, marking the official start of the youth movement against human supremacy, organized by Students Opposing Speciesism (SOS)—a PETA-backed, youth-led revolt against speciesism, the archaic belief that other animals are inferior and exist solely for humans to exploit.

Photos of this nationwide week of action are available here, and video is available upon request. More student-led events across the country are planned in the weeks to come.

“When I say that I’m against speciesism, I’m saying that my humanity doesn’t make me better than other animals,” says Ariel Phillips, SOS Kansas City organizer. “We don’t have the right to experiment on mice, eat pigs, wear cows’ skin, or put tigers in a cage just because we walk on two legs instead of four.”

“End Speciesism” actions have been held at Washington Square Park in New York City; Copley Square in Boston; Lea McKeighan Park in Lee’s Summit, Missouri; Virginia Commonwealth University’s James Branch Cabell Library in Richmond, Virginia; and other locations, with additional events planned for more than a dozen cities, including Bonifay, Florida; Cupertino, California; and Pittsburgh.

SOS members have called on Urban Outfitters to stop selling animal-derived materials, urged their schools to add vegan dining halls on campus, protested the National Institutes of Health’s “monkey fright” experiments, and more.

SOS shares PETA’s motto: “Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way.” For more information, please visit SOS.PETA.org or follow SOS on Instagram.