Just stick to your guns and sooner or later it will become who you are and the teasing will stop.  You might ask your husband in a heart to heart to support you a little more.  Tell him how much it hurts your feelings.  My ex joined in a couple of friends making fun of me, and I nipped it in the bud then and there and he never did it again. 

Also, don't loose your sense of humor and take yourself so seriously.  Sometimes we can take a little teasing.  Make a joke of it.  Once my friends said...."there's nothing for Tweety to eat here....but just send him out that lot over there, there's plenty of grass for him to munch on."  I laughed until I cried.  Nothing wrong with joining in the fun and making fun of ourselves.

Thank God for the internet, because I'm pretty much the only vegetarian I know as well. 

I'm so sorry you have to go through this. I think going veg is hard on everyone at first, especially if you don't have a network of people willing to be supportive, but you seem to be having a really rough time of it. Is there any way you could get in touch with like-minded people in your area online? Or maybe check out your local health food places and ask around in there. Maybe if there isn't any group of veg people, you could start one?

I agree with Tweety about nipping your husband's behaviour in the bud right away. It may be that he honestly doesn't realise how much he's upsetting you.

Finally, I notice on your profile you're interested in finding penpals. I was thinking of starting a thread on that very topic, maybe that would be another way to feel like you're making contact with veg people?

you've got to get in the right mind set.  you are aren't the one eating wierd, they are!  and if they know they are getting to you, they will keep doing it.  when my friends say stuff like, ooohhhh look at this bloody ribeye, doesn't it look good?  I'm thinking, yeah, I will get the last laugh when your arteries are clogged!  You shouldn't be ashamed or embarrassed, be proud.  when they don't get a reaction out of you, they will stop.

i feel for you guys. for the most part, my family is supportive, although they still ask me if i want a steak or a hamburger or tunafish sandwich lol it gets really frustrating, like nobody takes me seriously. especially when my grandparents (who are cuban and dont speak much english) offer me food and tell me there is no bacon or pork in it and then upon closer inspection i discover little bits of it..they dont mean any harm but vegetarianism is such a foreign concept to them. i dont have any vegan friends either and im CONSTANTLY getting made fun of for what i dont (and do) eat. for example, i was just at a party the fourth of july and my boyfriend likes to announce to everyone that im vegan (he thinks its funny) and some obnoxious man called me a communist? lol he then said "oh well we have food without meat because we care deeply about our vegetarian friends...YEAH FCKIN RIGHT!".. he though he was so funny and i was so annoyed by him that i just left. people can be so rude but i think it IS important to be proud and stand your ground.

I was at a picnic & someone else told this guy I was a vegetarian (funny that strangers are discussing my diet - WTF?)  Anyway he was making rude comments to me all day, then finally he comes out with "you know Hitler was a vegetarian". 

I would have responded with: "oh, well that is interesting because so was Einstein". 

I think we all have our examples of why we feel isolated and alone, there are so few vegetarians out there.  I am also the only veggie I know.  My mom used to be hard on me about it too, she would say things like "why do you have to eat so wierd?".  But at the beginning my cooking wasn't so good.  But I have had a few years to practice.  This past weekend was great.  I am ovo-lacto so I still eat cheese.  Monday, my last day there, mom and my stepdad had to go to work, so I made dinner.  I made some cheese and broccoli stuffed shells baked with tomatoes and green beans on the side.  It was delicious.  Mom was floored, she was like "This is delicious!" and "I don't miss having meat at all!"  and my stepdad had 9 shells!  I couldn't believe it, they were large shells, I could only eat 3. 

So my secret it to cook for them, show them how much better vegetarian food tastes and they will stop picking on you!  My mom said that she wants me to do the cooking from now on.  No more picking on me.

PB, I know exactly how you feel.  I went veg for about 6 months a few years ago, but it was so hard because I was all alone and everyone was giving me a hard time about it.  It actually caused me to go back to being an omni for a while.  Shortly after I went back though, one of my best buds decided he was going to go veg too.  I think I had influenced him a great bit and then he moved in with some friends of his who were thinking about doing it too.

I think what you need to remember is that you are doing this for you and not for anyone else.  It took me a while to fully understand that, but once I did, I didn't look back.  And I'm not going to, either.  Having others who are veg helps, but when I went back to veg*nism, it was for me.

Give your family time, they'll come around.  They're probably in the "it's a phase" stage.  Most of my family will now at least try some of the stuff that I make or bring to family gatherings, but it took them a long time to do that.  Also, they just started accomodating me.  Nothing major, just veggie burgers.  But they are trying and for that I give them thanks.
Just let them know how it's making you feel.  If that doesn't work, stop coming around and when they call asking if you can make it, tell them that you can't because they don't respect your decisions in life.  Guilt trips work wonders on your loved ones, you know. ;)

PB, one thing i found very helpful was to make real life veg acquaintances. I joined my local meetups.com group for vegans and we had a get togethers about twice a month in Tucson. I am also going to join the one here in Hartford. I didn't really connect strongly with the folks at my meetup.com veg meeting, but that is because I'm so shy. I made really good friends with the people in my writing group because I talked more. Even though i wasn't best buddies with the veg folks, it was refreshing to get together with people who had similar beliefs and share yummy food and advice, tips and stories.

I'm not sure what part of CO you are in but I highly recommend a meetups.com group to anyone looking for veg connections! Check it out! If one does not exist in your area, you can always lead one.

I think two huge factors in the critical-teasing thing are 1) guilt - if you're doing something healthy (say quitting smoking) while they're not, they figure the best defense is a good offense and 2) the need to be cool - people will join in teasing someone else for the anticipated laughter/social approval from others.

On the first - you can make it clear that you're not judging them, or expecting them to adopt your lifestyle - live and let live.

On the second, explaining to family members how you feel one-on-one can be a big help - a laugh from a crowd isn't worth hurting someone for - but they have to know it hurts you in order to be more supportive.

I guess I'm blessed with a stubborn streak - the teasing almost never bothers me if its not mean-spirited - when pushed, I tend to tease omnis about their taste for something awfully reminiscent of roadkill.  ;)