The annual gathering of cat owners at the Pasadena Convention Center, known as CatCon, kicked off Saturday morning.
Inside the center's grand ballroom and exhibition space, thousands of attendees dressed in costumes or sported cat ears, furry tails and T-shirts with hysterical puns as they strolled and gawked at hundreds of exhibit booths selling cat-related products and merchandise.
But among the sea of feline fans, Shannon Peace, 43, stood out for a different reason: her T-shirt. On the front it read: “Childless Cat Ladies for Kamala.”
“I picked out a different shirt for today; it had a bunch of cats on it and it said, ‘You disgusting people,’” she said, laughing. “But then he made those comments.”
At the Homocats booth, T-shirts were sold that referenced Senator JD Vance’s comments about “childless cat ladies.”
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Peace was referring to Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), who made headlines last week when a video clip resurfaced from a 2021 interview with then-Fox News host Tucker Carlson in which Vance compared Democratic leaders to “childless cat ladies.”
“In this country, we are effectively run by Democrats, by our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless women who are miserable with their own lives and the choices they’ve made, and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable, too,” she said. “It’s a basic fact: If you look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by childless people.”
Harris has two stepchildren and Buttigieg was in the process of adopting twins at the time.
But the clip, along with others in which Vance described childless people as “sociopaths,” “psychotic” and “deranged,” went viral on social media and sparked widespread backlash, including from celebrities like comedian Chelsea Handler and actor Jennifer Aniston.
“All I can say is… Mr. Vance, I pray your daughter is lucky enough to have children of her own one day,” Aniston posted on her Instagram story. “I hope she doesn’t have to resort to IVF as a second option, because you are trying to take that away from her too.”
New Zealand's Queen Olivia III is ready for a close-up at CatCon.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Vance later addressed his comments on “The Megyn Kelly Show,” saying they were a sarcastic dig at the Democratic Party.
“This is not a criticism of people who don’t have children… This is a criticism of the Democratic Party for becoming anti-family and anti-child,” he said.
But for Peace, the senator's comments came across as an attack on her.
“You’re talking about me, I’m like that: I don’t have kids by choice, I have cats by choice. It’s like he pointed the finger at me and I didn’t appreciate it,” she said. “I’m a person who never misses an opportunity to vote and I have a stake in the future of this country, so I felt very offended by that.”
At the convention, she said many people complimented her on the shirt.
“The response I’m getting is not so much about him, which I love, nobody says his name, nobody cares, but the idea that we need to stop marginalizing people,” she said. “I think people are fed up with that … and for someone to have less of an interest in this country or be a lesser person because of the decisions they made is repugnant to most of us.”
There’s nothing political about cat conventions. That was evident at Saturday’s event, where guest speakers and panelists never mentioned Vance or his comments. Instead, they focused on informing the public about research studies and improving cat health.
Dug Rusinek, 39, owner of Felinious, wears one of the T-shirts his company created and sold at the Homocats booth at CatCon.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Elsewhere at the convention, families, couples and single men and women queued to adopt kittens. More than 100 would be adopted by the end of the day. Some people queued to have their photos taken with feline celebrities or members of the Australian Firefighters Calendar.
Among them was Virginia Sambrano, 72, of Lawndale, who was attending the convention for the first time with her daughter. She said she was interested in meeting the firefighters after seeing them on television. She said she took a photo with them and bought their calendar.
“I’m a Gemini, so I’m sure I’ll enjoy the month of June,” she said with a laugh.
Asked if Mr. June had signed his calendar, Sambrano paused.
“Oh, I need to go back.”
Susan Michals, founder and organizer of the convention, said the two-day event, now in its ninth year, serves as a gathering place for people to celebrate cat culture together while also receiving information on the latest trends and products.
But CatCon, which attendees have described as the Comic-Con for cat lovers, is also trying to debunk the “cat lady” myth.
“Frankly, the term ‘cat lady’ used in a negative way is sexist,” Michals said. “It implies the opposite of an accomplished woman, but we’re not in the 20th century anymore.”
As for Vance, Michals said his comments were simply divisive.
“I don’t really think about him, but he obviously thinks a lot about cat lovers.”
Janay Masters, 32, poses with people dressed as cats.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
It was a few minutes after 11 a.m. when Melissa Bell, 36, arrived at the Feline Vintage clothing stand. Bell said that ever since he heard Vance's comments, he had been waiting for someone to design a T-shirt that mocked the senator.
Bell said she saw a black T-shirt hanging on a hanger at the booth that morning that read: “Childless cat lady ready to impose my misery on conservatives.”
She bought it immediately.
Dug Rusinek, 39, owner of Felinious, a Florida-based clothing brand, said the idea for the shirt came from an Instagram post he made shortly after hearing the senator’s comments. He said people kept telling him to create a shirt with that image, and so he did.
“We are just men in a world of cat-loving women,” he said. “We are just here to support women.”
Rusinek said he disagreed with Vance's comments.
“I don't understand people who have a problem with pets or cat lovers,” she added. “Women shouldn't be birthing machines.”
He said people without children can still care about the world and questioned why global warming is not more of a concern to conservatives if they care about families and children.
Nearby, Bell snapped a photo holding her new shirt. It was her and her roommate's first time attending the convention. They had heard about it on social media.
Cynthia Bettis, left, and Mary Salazar, both of Riverside, dress up as cat trees at the Mad Catter's Tea Room exhibit.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
“We’re having a good time so far,” she said. “I love that so many people love cats so much.”
Bell said she and her roommate planned to check out various knick-knacks and stop by the adoption center. She said she had recently lost her two cats, Boogers and Shy Guy, and both were more than 10 years old when they died.
“They lived a long and happy life,” he said.
Bell said she had always had a cat until now and added that she was pretty sure they would adopt a kitten at the end of the day.
“I'm pushing for the cat,” he said, laughing.[My roommate] You don’t know it, but today we are going to buy a cat.”
At the end of the day, she would successfully adopt a kitten, whom she would name Homer.
