Discrimination, a heavy burden
In the spring of 2019, I went to a new doctor for the first time to discuss a medical issue. The doctor listened to me describe the problem for a couple of minutes. Then, without even asking me about my lifestyle habits or examining me, she started blaming me for bad diet and exercise habits she incorrectly assumed I had.
This wasn’t the first time it had happened, but it was the first time I saw it for what it was: weight discrimination. This doctor had essentially refused to look into my medical issue because she couldn’t see beyond my weight.
Most cities and states in the U.S. have no protections against weight discrimination, which means it is completely legal for someone to be paid less, denied medical care, or prevented from renting homes because of their weight.
It shouldn’t be. It’s time for New York City to follow the lead of other localities that have taken action to prohibit weight-based (and height-based) discrimination, and offer residents a pathway for redress when it happens.
Throughout my life, I’ve had a very complicated relationship with my weight. For most of my childhood, I weighed slightly above “normal,” but when I was 16, I lost about 40 pounds within a couple of months because I was sick with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, a type of cancer. I should have been horrified by how sick and weak I was, but instead I was excited to experience the world as a skinny person. For once, I could fit into straight-sized clothing, was validated by my peers, and didn’t have to constantly worry about taking up “too much” space in public.
Contrary to the standard “skinny equals healthy” narrative, when I was actually really sick, I was skinny, and when I was actually healthy, I was fat. Because of the systemic fatphobia in our society, though, I resented my body for recovering from cancer since it meant regaining the weight I’d lost, and that attitude was only reinforced by rude comments made by classmates and doctors about my weight. I eventually developed an eating disorder, because I wanted so badly to be skinny and accepted again.
My experience with fatphobia is sadly really common. In 2019, I created an online survey asking for others to share their personal experiences with discrimination on the basis of weight and size. More than 150 stories about being harassed, neglected and dehumanized because of weight poured in.
One respondent described the experience of being removed from class along with the other fat kids in sixth grade to be publicly weighed. Another respondent told the story of having to wait 11 years for a proper diagnosis of a thyroid issue, because doctors refused to believe that the respondent’s sudden weight gains weren’t a result of diet and exercise. Still more respondents reported being threatened, photographed without consent, followed, groped, shouted at and sexually harassed when in public. Like me, many respondents also said that this constant stream of weight bias and discrimination led them to develop eating disorders.
Reversing our society’s fatphobia, which causes so much emotional and physical harm, isn’t an easy task, but legal protections against weight-based discrimination will help to change norms and support those who have been harmed.
Right now, the law protects you from discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, reproductive health care choices, marital status, veteran status, and more. But if you are denied entry to a restaurant or paid less or not hired in the first place because of your weight or height, there’s no one to turn to.
Legislation introduced late last month by Councilmen Brad Lander and Danny Dromm can change that, by adding weight and height as protected categories in New York CIty’s Human Rights Law.
People will be able to file a complaint with the NYC Human Rights Commission if they experience discrimination in employment, housing or public accommodations. The commission will then investigate their claim, with the power to order employers or landlords to cease and desist; reinstate an employee; provide an accommodation; pay for lost wages; and pay for emotional distress damages, among other remedies.
At the end of my survey, I asked respondents whether a bill outlawing weight-based discrimination would impact their lives, and responses were overwhelmingly supportive. Respondents said that legal protections would make them feel more confident in standing up to bullies, more comfortable going to the doctor’s office, and less worried about missing out on opportunities due to their weight.
In short, outlawing discrimination based on weight and height will improve people’s lives, by making it clear that people should be treated equally no matter what their body looks like.
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