Committed: A Rabble Rouser’s Memoir by Dan Mathews
Duckworth Overlook, £8.99
Dan Mathews is proof, if it were needed, that charm is a verb – something you do. Mathews, senior vice-president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, does charm very well indeed. When we meet at his modest west London hotel to talk about his recently-published memoir, Committed: A Rabble Rouser’s Memoir, I am curious to know how this “fat queer” from Orange County metamorphosed into the kind of man for whom many of the world’s most beautiful women regularly strip off at the drop of a hat or, at least, on receiving a phone call from Mathews.
Despite his zeal, which has led to him being beaten up (while dressed as a carrot), sectioned and arrested more times than he can remember, Mathews, 44, is no crank. In fact, with his model good looks – Mathews has previously earned his living as both a hustler and a model – his passion and understated, un-American humour, it’s easy to see how he has (almost) got away with being a thorn in the side of the global fashion industry for so long, campaigning against its excesses and, in particular, its use of fur.
Mathews describes his book, the cover of which features the author in a bunny suit in a deliberate parody of the famous images of American astronauts, as “an adventure story”. So where did the adventure begin?
“Pretty much in childhood. Like many people, I felt on the fringes of society. In my case, because I was gay in a society which refused to acknowledge our very existence. And I thought the way we treat animals was insane, almost prehistoric, even though I was living in mid-20th century America.”
PETA should consider itself fortunate that Mathews chose to dedicate himself to animal rights. “The way women, blacks and gays were treated seemed to come from a place of total ignorance.” It was his desire to understand how we arrived at this place that led him to leave California for Rome, with $1,000 in his pocket, to study ancient history – that and the desire to escape from Ronald Reagan’s America.
Mathews’ left with the full support of his “anarchist punk mother”, who “always urged us to participate” –whether this meant marching with Mexican immigrants or helping millionaires dig out their homes in Beverly Hills following a mud slide. “It didn’t matter, high or low, you lent a hand.”
His mother was – unusually, says Mathews – “thrilled” when he came out as a gay man. Despite this, Mtthews does not immerse himself in gay culture. “For me, every day is gay pride day.”
Does being gay help when trying to coax supermodels out of their furs and into their knickers for PETA’s “I’d rather go naked than wear fur” campaign? “God, yes. There are so many smarmy people in fashion; models develop a second sense. Then along comes a gay vegan. There was never any hesitation on the part of the models to get involved. Being gay definitely gave me an edge.”
Mathews is relieved to have the services of the world’s top models in their prime, before the “rehab era”. Currently, he has another top model in his sights: Carla Bruni – or Madame Sarkozy, as she now prefers to be called. “I saw pictures of her wearing what appeared to be fur and so I wrote her asking her to donate her clothes to us so we could pass them on to the homeless. Carla wrote me a personal letter, assuring me that everything she wears is actually fake – right down to the trimmings. The next day, Michelle Obama came out against wearing fur, too. We couldn’t have a better advocate.”
Mathews finds this first lady one-upmanship hilarious.
I ask which, of the many roles recounted in his book – rabbit, carrot, mental patient and hustler – he felt happiest with. “Priest”, he replies without hesitation, recalling the occasion on which he stormed the catwalk show by Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre dressed as a cleric and brandishing a placard proclaiming: “Thou Shall Not Kill”. He enjoyed wearing the vestments, despite believing that “all organised religion is just an excuse for bad behaviour”.
This was following a similar stunt in Paris when Mathews was sectioned by the French authorities. Even the experience of being “chained to a wall in a loony bin in Paris” did not deflect him from his goal. “The nice thing about being mad is that there are no wrong answers. It was a really interesting day. I thought of all the times people have said I’m nuts. Maybe they were right and it just took the French to recognise it.”
Despite his success in lobbying the United States Congress, Mathews sees animal rights as a social or consumer issue rather than as a political one. He avoids politics as much as he can and is “happy to let my personal political views slide” if that means progressing PETA’s agenda. He is currently campaigning to ban the use of carriage horses in New York and lobbying Capitol Hill to invest in alternatives to animal testing, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences.
“We engage wherever we can, and indulge in a lot of undercover work, exposing illegal practices in slaughterhouses and farms, before presenting our evidence to Congress.” He is proud to have secured a recent and historic felony conviction in New York State on a charge of animal cruelty.
However, in a time of economic meltdown, does it really matter if Kylie Minogue – the recipient of an open letter from Mathews – wants to cheer herself up with a python skin clutch bag? “The recession presents us with an opportunity. It’s hitting the luxury goods market hard”, he says, unable to hide his satisfaction. “It’s a good thing.”
He is also delighted by Martha Stewart’s conversion to the cause. With characteristic good humour, Mathews wrote to the style guru, who still wields huge influence in the US, when she was incarcerated, inviting her to contribute to his “good jails guide”. “Within a month of being sprung”, Stewart – who had previously topped PETA’s “worst-dressed list” – hosted a vegan fundraising dinner.
In his tireless pursuit of celebrities – Mathews’ best friend is Pamela Anderson – he offers a kind of reverse Faustian pact. Join me and I will give you back your soul. And it seems to work. Well, up to a point. Matthews is not holding his breath while he waits for a reply to the letter he wrote to Victoria Beckham. l
Cary Gee
