That Vegan Teacher

Kadie Karen Diekmeyer (born September 24, 1964), popularly known as That Vegan Teacher, is a Canadian animal rights activist and former educator, mainly known for promoting veganism. Before she started her online career, Diekmeyer was a nurse and later an ESL teacher but eventually left the latter job at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Diekmeyer is known for her TikTok and YouTube accounts that promote veganism. Diekmeyer's content has been controversial, prompting accusations of racism and homophobia. Diekmeyer was born on September 24, 1964, in Montreal, and is of German and Swiss descent. Diekmeyer worked as a registered nurse at the Lakeshore General Hospital for 25 years, and attended Concordia University to become an ESL teacher in French Canadian schools for nine years. She worked both jobs before dropping her nursing career to work full time in the school system and eventually leaving her job at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1995 Diekmeyer composed the nationalistic English-French folk song "Imaginez un Pays/Imagine a Country" and performed at the Unity Rally at the Place du Canada. She spoke of her anxiety before her public performance, which she had never done before, and got help from her friends and relatives to write the French lyrics. Cheryl Cornacchia of the Montreal Gazette called her "one of the dozens of do-it-yourself artists making a place for themselves in Montreal". As of 1999, Diekmeyer had written 47 songs, mainly about life and women's empowerment. Diekmeyer is known for her TikTok and YouTube career of promoting veganism. She went viral on TikTok for a song called, "Eating Animals is Wrong, McDonald's", in July 2020. Some of Diekmeyer's content has been characterized as racist and homophobic, including the repurposing of the slogan of "I can't breathe" for a song expressing opposition to animal agriculture, as well as arguing that coming out as LGBT is a selfish act as opposed to doing so as vegan. Diekmeyer has also drawn criticism for comparing the animal agriculture industry to the Holocaust.