Vegan Campaigner Too 'Annoying' For Citizenship Wins Passport Fight

But when Dutch anti-cowbell campaigner Nancy Holten applied for Swiss citizenship, she found that Switzerland was not a nation that welcomed bovine solidarity in its citizens. Twice, authorities denied her application for a Swiss passport after the residents of her village of Gipf-Oberfrick said that her civic campaigns on issues such as cowbells and church bells were "annoying." But now the scourge of pointless noise pollution and admittedly cute animal necklaces has won her long-running battle to become a Swiss citizen.

Holten—a vegan animal rights campaigner and part-time model—had irritated Gipf-Oberfrick's residents after campaigning against traditions like hunting, circus animals, and church bell ringing (anything that wakes you up from a weekend lie-in is an inhumane practice that should also be stopped).

Despite being fluent in Swiss German, having three Swiss daughters, and no criminal convictions, Holten's application for citizenship was declined by locals in her village. Tanja Suter, a local representative of the anti-immigration Swiss People's Party, described Holten as a "big mouth," adding that she "annoy[ed] us and doesn't respect our traditions."

Amazingly, this is actually legal under Swiss law. "To get the Swiss passport, all three levels of the Swiss governmental system have to say yes," explains immigration lawyer Dr. Martin Grossmann. "In certain municipalities the assembly of the citizens of the municipality take the decision of naturalization," he goes on. "On this level all citizens of the municipality have a vote in the assembly, and personal sensitivities may lead to a negative decision."

After appealing, the Swiss authorities deemed that Holten had met the criteria for citizenship, and overturned the villager's objections. Now, Holten will achieve her long-held dream of Swiss citizenship, free to fight for the rights of cows everywhere from within the system. How does she feel?

"In one word, happy," Holten responds in a phone call with Broadly. "I've been waiting for this so long and fighting for it for so long. I'm happy and relieved it's over."

Holten never meant to be annoying, she tells me. It was all one big misunderstanding—she just felt sorry for the cows.

"The people in the village thought I was attacking their traditions," she goes on, "but that was never my attention. I just cared about the animals."

Holten says that Swiss patriarchy did not respond well to an outspoken woman calling bullshit on their pointless traditions."I'm a very open person and I'm living in the countryside in a small village with around 3500 people," she explains. "I jump around and am happy and a lot of people have an issue with that, especially the older, patriarchal generation of men. They attack me verbally and tell me to shut my mouth. I've been sworn at in the street by an old man."

But Holten will not be deterred. "I'll stay who I am," she says, explaining that with her new citizenship she plans to get into Swiss politics.

Finally, I ask about the cowbells.

"When the cows go up and down the mountain they have eight kilograms of weight on them in the form of the bells," she explains. "They're so loud! They must have ear damage. I mean, don't do something to animals that you wouldn't want someone to do to you as well."