The animal rights group PETA have received flack for comparing speciesism to racism and homophobia.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) released tweets calling for the removal of anti-animal language from everyday conversations. They stated: “Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start ‘bringing home the bagels’ instead of the bacon.”

They suggest substituting ‘Kill two birds with one stone’ with ‘Feed two birds with one scone’ and swapping ‘Take the bull by the horns’ for ‘Take the flower by the thorns’.

Just as it became unacceptable to use racist, homophobic, or ableist language, phrases that trivialize cruelty to animals will vanish as more people begin to appreciate animals for who they are and start ‘bringing home the bagels’ instead of the bacon.

— PETA (@peta) December 4, 2018

There was an immediately negative reaction with many suggesting it was offensive for the animal rights group to equate the use of such language with homophobia and racism.

Hi, @peta. As someone who has had homophobic slurs shouted at him and seen individuals physically threatened and beaten while anti-LGBTQ epithets were hurled, your stupidity is not even laughable— it is offensive to equate common animal idioms to racism, ableism, or homophobia.

— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) December 5, 2018

PETA responded, “To the haters: with so much negativity in the world, why not lighten up and use language in a way that encourages being kind to animals?” before suggesting dumping the phrase ‘Curiosity killed the cat’ and replacing it with ‘Curiosity thrilled the cat’.

The post also quickly inspired a host of memes, including ‘Stop using anti-book language’ suggesting swapping ‘Hit the books’ for ‘Hug the books’.

PETA brings home the bagels, along with some memes.https://t.co/fke2UUDJa9 pic.twitter.com/X1t7uxCXFy

— Know Your Meme (@knowyourmeme) December 6, 2018

Others went the comedy route with one tweeter going the full hog. “This really gets my goat. People are too pig-headed to realize the seriousness, then they just try to weasel out of things when their caught. This isn’t a red herring, it’s a sign society is going to the dogs. Thanks for tackling the elephant in the room.”

https://twitter.com/JoshDeFamio/status/1070130808994783232

But while many have mocked the status, others suggest that PETA may have a point. With the rise in veganism and attitudes towards the killing of animals for food, it could in turn have a knock on effect on not just what we put in our mouths, but what comes out.