For years, folks have complained that the animal rights movement has not been reaching out enough to minorities—people of color, people of different sexual orientation, people of different abilities. Well, by some miraculous alchemy, this year AR2006, had a healthy representation of at least two constituencies. I didn’t have any scientific evidence, but there seemed to be a noticeable increase in the number of people of color, and several folks in wheelchairs and with prostheses. Enough to be noticeable. Enough to be welcomed.

I asked disability rights activist Lawrence Carter-Long whether he’d spotted this, too. By heck, had he, although he couldn’t claim credit for it. But he and I both liked the fact that the message was getting through, and that the representation was now moving beyond tokenism into the comfort zone of acceptance. Good news all round.