‘Fatphobia’ May Soon Be Banned In All Workplaces
Recently, lawmakers in Colorado are expected to pass the legislation to put bans on bias from “fatphobia” according to Fox59. Colorado is currently America’s healthiest state and this ban would prevent any employers or landlords from creating bias and discriminating against obese and overweight individuals.
The definition of fatphobia is an “aversion to fatness or fat people” says Fox59. The new law is an attempt to prevent landlords from refusing rentals due to weight limits and to create new workplace accommodations for Americans who are overweight.
These acceptance movements are a large trend in the United States currently. Many major cities have recently created legislation that protects overweight Americans. Just last week New York created a similar fatphobia law. As the obesity rates continue to climb in the U.S. states like Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Jersey have also started to consider implementing these laws.
West Virginia is currently the most unhealthy state in the U.S. and has an obesity rate of 71%.
Many of the most obese states in America don’t have any anti-weight discrimination laws. The five healthiest states however are all proposing different fatphobia laws.
Kristal Hartman is an activist with the Obesity Action Coalition. She says that these types of laws will create a greater acceptance of overweight individuals.
“Just to humanize this disease, and to take away the blame, and the shame is incredibly important, just like it is all of the other types of discrimination that these laws are looking to abolish. This is a huge step forward for us, and we really hope that this starts a grassroots effort across the US. So, weight stigma, weight bias, and weight discrimination is a thing of the past instead of part of our present or our future,” Hartman said.
Colorado is currently aiming to pass the fatphobia legislation sometime in 2024.
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