Vegans are people who have ultimately taken the decision to remove all forms of foods from animal origins from their menu. Many people have adopted the vegan lifestyle and it has seemingly made them happy. At least they get to eat their meals and enjoy it the way we all do.

The general public has a different opinion about vegans; it is still a wonder why vegans are constantly under attack because of their nutritional preferences. A typical vegan’s social media page will be mostly riddled with insults and criticisms when they make posts about their chosen vegan lifestyle. Handling the insults and trolling received from the bullies on social media requires a high level of maturity and self-control to ignore the barrage of insults they load up on the social media about vegans.

On the other hand, the non-vegans who have chosen to eat their meals including all the kinds of foods that they crave are made to feel guilty because they choose to eat foods from animal sources. The campaign that is launched to educate people about the vegan lifestyle often contains graphic pictures of animals that have been slaughtered for food. This can be confusing for the general public who see these publications. The next feeling will most probably be guilt.

It is true that vegans can be over bearing when it comes to putting out the facts about their lifestyle but should this really be the case? Being a vegan should not make you conform to what the public and media make you out to be. The peculiar case of Nancy Holten a vegan for many years is one of many cases where reactions that might have been controlled for the sake of peace where over expressed leading to dire consequences. Nancy Holten has been denied the Swiss citizenship twice for absurd reasons.

Nancy Holten was born in Netherlands, her parents moved to Switzerland when she was eight years old. She fluently speaks Swiss German and she is most eligible for a citizenship; however, this is not yet the case. It seems she has been singled out to be denied this accord because her children have secured their Swiss citizenships. Her first application for citizenship was denied on the grounds that she strongly voiced her opinions about animal rights.

Gipf-Oberfrick The process of securing a Swiss citizenship will ultimately require the members of your immediate community to support you in this bid. This has not been the case of Nancy as her community- Gipf-Oberfrick, as her animal rights campaigns in the community she lives have left many people there quite angry due to her accusations at them about the wrong use of cowbells during the local festivities. In her opinion, the cows used for these festivities are abused and their rights violated.

Her bold accusations in the various media and public denouncements of the traditional practices during the festivities at Gipf-Oberfrick have turned the minds of the community against having her as one of them.

The members of the community claim that her media campaigns have given the community a bad name on a global scale; they are not willing to accept such a person who seemingly does not mean well for the community to become one of them.

Not deterred by her experience with her two applications for citizenship rejected twice, Nancy Holten has insisted that she has an equal right as any member of the community to live in Switzerland. In her opinion, the people of Gipf-Oberfrick have the wrong idea, she claims that her actions have been motivated out of concern for the cows that have to endure carrying huge cowbells and suffer the high pitch of the clanging bells. She also states that she has no negative feelings towards the ceremonies and cultural display performed during the traditional festivities.

Nancy’s second attempt at securing a Swiss citizenship failed again in November. Her applications were forwarded for further considerations to the cantonal government in Aargau. She is hopeful that the sentiments expressed by the people in Gipf-Oberfrick will be overlooked because she meets all the other requirements that make her eligible for a citizenship. Nancy Holten has lived and worked in Gipf-Oberfrick for many years. She has family there as well whose citizenship applications have long been granted.

In my opinion, Nancy’s case should not have been taken this far to cause her applications rejected. Her campaigns have been styled as informative and educative rather than violently expressing her views to the people. Her stand is not against the traditions in Gipf-Oberfrick as purported by the people. I think the authorities should not close their ears to her concerns, a close observation should be carried out and if there is any validity in her claims they should be properly addressed.

I am sure the case would have been different if more opinionated groups like the PETA were involved in this battle. They have been known to go to extreme lengths to prove their point.