Vegetarianism is a link to perfection and peace. But it's a small link. There are lots of other issues: apartheid , vivisection, political prisoners, the arms race. There's so much going on in this world today, so much ignorance among people. That's not to say I'm not standing amongst everybody. But the point is, what can we do now? That's the thing about vegetarianism; it's an individual's decision and it's something you have control over. How many things do we really have control over?

My life certainly hasn't been ordinary: different is the word. It hasn't always been stable - except in the important things which are love and security within the family. Whenever there were strains at home, we could always communicate. The rule was that the younger you were, the louder you were allowed to scream. As the eldest, I just talked.

We take these animals and completely violate who they are. We use them, abuse them, and deprive them all their lives…then we cut their throats, shred them and eat them! Morally, I’m against it, ethically, I can’t justify it, and ecologically, it’s just insane. The thought of meat-eating makes me shudder. As far as wearing fur is concerned, it is the rudest, most inconsiderate, selfish and sick façade I can imagine.

People are constantly trying to make an image for you. They`ll dress you up and tell you to pose a certain way and take all these pictures... they want a certain image, so they create that. And unless you`re spending a lot of time to create another image to counteract that image, theirs will win. So right now, I`m kind of dealing with a lot of false ideas of what I`m about.

Everything is ironic to me. There are moments I find hysterical, but I'm probably the only one who would find that, except for a few people.

I've always felt somewhat out of place with other kids my own age", said River. "I was constantly reminded by people's reaction to our names and our diet that we seemed weird to them.

It still strikes me as strange that anyone could have any moral objection to someone else's sexuality. It's like telling someone else how to clean their house.