Massachusetts lawmaker introduces bill to ban body-size discrimination
BOSTON - A Beacon Hill lawmaker is pushing a bill that could ban discrimination based on body-size and height. Supporters of the bill say weight-based discrimination can impact everything from wages to health care.
If the bill becomes law, Massachusetts will become the second state behind Michigan to ban discrimination based on a person's height or weight.
"We do see most of the impact falling on people in larger bodies," said State Senator Becca Rausch (D), a co-sponsor of the bill.
Rausch says the judgment happens all too often.
"It comes up in employment. It comes up in healthcare. It comes up in access to support services. It comes up basically you name it," Rausch said.
Maggie Bowlby of "Bigger Bodies Boston" knows the feeling of being judged all too well. The stares and the pressure that comes from being bigger than her peers.
"That could be walking into a job interview and thinking - do I look just right? Because I know that they're already thinking that larger bodied people are maybe unhealthy. I know they are already thinking that might make me be lazy or sloppy," Bowlby said.
Medical experts say there is a correlation between being overweight and a person's health.
"We see heart disease, we see diabetes, high blood pressure," said Dr. Sajani Shah, a Tufts minimally invasive and bariatric surgeon.
And while the few opponents of this bill argue that normalizing obesity could have dangerous effects, Dr. Shah says weight and height shouldn't get in the way of a person's basic needs.
"Opportunities such as jobs, or housing, or finance, how much you weigh or how tall you are should not be a factor," Dr. Shah said.
What if a person's weight prevents them from doing a certain job? Bowlby says the bill hopes to create a more inclusive space for people of all shapes and sizes.
"There's simply not furniture that accommodates this person," Bowlby said. "That's not a problem with the person, that's a problem with the space. So how can we create those accommodations."
At the very least, she hopes that people can be more mindful.
"I would love for them to think about the larger bodied people that they know or have maybe encountered and wonder about what their implicit biases are saying," Bowlby said.
The bill has a long way to go before becoming law. It would have to clear a House and Senate vote and then get the governor's signature before it's official.
