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In a week and a half, on Tuesday, March 25, there's going to be a hearing at the state house in Boston in support of a law making it illegal to discriminate based on height and weight.
I'm going to be there, ready to talk about why this matters to me. Marilyn Wann suggested that I talk about the fat hating letter I got a few years back, so I'll probably do that. She emailed me about it eight years to the day after the hugely healing speak out against fat hatred the community helped organize in response.
A lot of other pretty amazing folks are going to be at the hearing in Boston. I'm in the middle of a crucial time in revision of my novel, it's a little hard to stop to go do this, and discrimination based on weight is always an emotionally charged thing to talk about. It takes some serious work to articulate something that painful, and also to stay human and open and alive and to keep trying to communicate in good faith, no matter what comes back.
And, yeah, it's important. And just the chance to witness a roomful of people doing all of the emotional, logistical and intellectual work to show up to do the same could be life-changing. It has been, for me, in the past. The thought of it almost makes me cry. And, oh, it matters, it matters so much, to take steps, positive, direct steps, to try to shift discrimination based on size. Some people have worked for years to make this happen. I haven't done that, but I'm going to show up a week from Tuesday, convenient or not.
If you live in Massachusetts, if you feel that discrimination based on size is wrong, it would be great if you did, too. Just being there matters. And your story about why you care about this, however halting or hard it is to tell, that matters, too. Think about coming ready to tell it. I'm doing that, and I'm coming to try to really hear.
There's also a call out to make a phone call to your state representative and ask how the Rep. will vote on the bill.
Get full information, including time, place and contact info here.
I'm going to be there, ready to talk about why this matters to me. Marilyn Wann suggested that I talk about the fat hating letter I got a few years back, so I'll probably do that. She emailed me about it eight years to the day after the hugely healing speak out against fat hatred the community helped organize in response.
A lot of other pretty amazing folks are going to be at the hearing in Boston. I'm in the middle of a crucial time in revision of my novel, it's a little hard to stop to go do this, and discrimination based on weight is always an emotionally charged thing to talk about. It takes some serious work to articulate something that painful, and also to stay human and open and alive and to keep trying to communicate in good faith, no matter what comes back.
And, yeah, it's important. And just the chance to witness a roomful of people doing all of the emotional, logistical and intellectual work to show up to do the same could be life-changing. It has been, for me, in the past. The thought of it almost makes me cry. And, oh, it matters, it matters so much, to take steps, positive, direct steps, to try to shift discrimination based on size. Some people have worked for years to make this happen. I haven't done that, but I'm going to show up a week from Tuesday, convenient or not.
If you live in Massachusetts, if you feel that discrimination based on size is wrong, it would be great if you did, too. Just being there matters. And your story about why you care about this, however halting or hard it is to tell, that matters, too. Think about coming ready to tell it. I'm doing that, and I'm coming to try to really hear.
There's also a call out to make a phone call to your state representative and ask how the Rep. will vote on the bill.
Get full information, including time, place and contact info here.