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This was picked up at a pride festival a few years ago. Lots of similarities, especially in the "choice" vs. genetics areas:
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So why is a fat acceptance group showing up at the Pride festival, aside from the fact that we have bisexual and lesbian members, not to mention straight members who are definitely not narrow?
The reason, besides the fact that the cause is just and the fact that we love a good party, is that fat people and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered (LGBT) people are in a similar position in the eyes of mainstream society. Pride Day is a great opportunity to educate people about this, but more importantly it's a chance to stand with our LGBT friends against prejudice, and to demand fundamental human rights for all of us. As long as any of us are oppressed, none of us are free.
How are fat people and LGBT people similar?
1. Most people believe that both being fat and being gay is a matter of personal choice. This is true in a sense - what we all choose is to have a fully human life.
If you are lesbian or gay, it's possible to maintain "normality" by marrying someone of the opposite sex and performing feats of imagination that enable you to function sexually often enough to reproduce. You'll be expected to suppress a fundamental part of your personality, all the time. Never mind that your soul dies.
All you have to do is recognize that you are subhuman and not entitled to a sex life that fully involves you at all levels. John Paulk does it, doesn't he?
If you are fat, and no more than 30-80 pounds heavier than average, it's possible to maintain "normality" by cutting your caloric intake to approximately half of average (often to levels that the UN recognizes as starvation). If you're really heavy, you'll be expected to undergo dangerous and ineffective surgery to make sure you eat even less. Of course, you should also do a stringent workout every day, and maintain the regimen for the rest of your life. Never mind that your soul dies, nor that your body often dies, too.
All you have to do is recognize that you are subhuman, and are not entitled to spend many of your free hours on anything other than working on your "weight problem." Oprah Winfrey does it, doesn't she?
2. Discrimination against both LGBT people and fat people is mostly still legal and socially acceptable.
Only in Michigan and Santa Cruz County in California is it illegal to discriminate against fat people. Only in a few areas around the country is it illegal to discriminate against LGBT people. Homophobia and fatphobia are not only institutionalized, but publicly defended and proudly proclaimed.
3. Neither fat children nor queer children are safe in schools.
Both fat and LGBT kids are targeted for systematic abuse and harassment from their peers, destroying their self-esteem and, in too many cases, driven to suicide as a result. The harassers are often aided and abetted by those in authority who should be protecting all children.
Teachers tell gay students who suffer years of abuse by their classmates:
"They'd leave you alone if you just didn't act so swishy."
Teachers tell fat students who suffer years of abuse by their classmates:
"They'd leave you alone if you'd just lose weight."
4. Both LGBT and fat people are victims of ignorant and misguided health "information" and so-called "concern" that often hurts more than it helps.
For example:
"Everybody knows" that AIDS is a gay disease, and that LGBT people are irresponsible about spreading it. Of course, informed people realize that unsafe sex (regardless of one's orientation) spreads AIDS, and that 90% of the people with AIDS are heterosexual. In addition, LGBT people often avoid medical care because they are unwilling to field rude questions about their assumed habits, and because they worry about confidentiality.
Similarly:
"Everybody knows" that being fat causes heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Of course, informed people realize that inactivity and poor nutrition (in someone of any size), as well as genetic factors, denial of health insurance, and the stress of discrimination cause these health problems. In addition, fat people often avoid medical care because they are unwilling to field rude questions about their assumed habits, and because many doctors attribute any problem to weight instead of working on an accurate diagnosis.
5. Both LGBT and fat people have a set of "things to strictly avoid doing in public."
Strangers feel they have the right to interfere with your personal life, make assumptions about you, and pass judgment on you. Some examples:
LGBT: expressing affection for a partner, wearing "funny" clothes, flirting, talking to children.
Fat: eating an ice cream cone, wearing sexy clothes, dancing and flirting, exercising -- and NOT exercising.
6. Both LGBT and fat people are subject to resentment because we dare to live as we please, despite pressures that crush other people into conformity.
Homophobe: "I've been stuck in a 'shotgun' marriage for 20 years; sex with my spouse bores me, and the only person with whom I'm emotionally intimate is my best friend. I'm also trapped in a dead-end job to support kids I never wanted. I hate gay people, especially the ones who are out and proud, because their very existence mocks my boring life and the sacrifices I make to fit everyone else's expectations."
Fatphobe: "I live on celery and yogurt, and spend most of my free time working out. I still don't much care for the way I look, but at least I am closer to the cultural ideal weight than the 15 pounds heavier that I would otherwise be, and there's always cosmetic surgery if all else fails. At least I recognize my faults and keep trying over and over again. I hate fat people, especially the ones who refuse to be ashamed, because their very existence mocks my boring life and the sacrifices I make to fit everyone else's expectations.
7. Both LGBT and fat people are not considered entitled to the rights and freedoms of modern society. We are expected to live in the dark ages.
In the eyes of others:
For people who prefer opposite-sex partners, it's the 20th century, in which marriage is about companionship as well as reproduction. Simply committing to your partner entitles you to take advantage of many legal perks, even if one of you is sterile or past reproductive age, or if you just don't intend to have kids. For people who prefer same-sex partners, it's the 11th century, where conventional marriage is about property and cementing clan relationships. If you love an "unacceptable" partner, legal rights and other doors are closed to you, and it's your responsibility to deal with it somehow.
For people who don't gain weight easily and are not visibly fat, it's the 20th century, in which sufficient food is generally available and most work is sedentary. For people who are visibly fat, it's the 11th century, where day-long physical labor on semi-starvation rations is the norm. If you're hungry, you must find a way to ignore it or trick your body, and if your sedentary job requires a lot of your time, it's your responsibility to find the extra time to do extra labor somehow.
If you still wonder why we're here, we suggest that you think of all the stereotypes you may hold about fat people. Write them all down, cross out "fat" and substitute "gay," and see how you feel about them. Now you know.
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