A new bill passed in New York City is set to protect people from discrimination based on their "height and weight."
The New York City council passed the bill, Thursday, that would make it illegal to discriminate against people based on these characteristics when they’re applying for housing, jobs, and public accommodations.
The proposed legislation, which has been championed by weight activists in the city, will be signed into law by New York City Mayor Eric Adams later this month. Though one major Republican New York City warned the future law will allow people to "sue anyone and everything."
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The bill would add weight and height protections to the city’s human rights laws which already bans discrimination based on age, marital status, ethnicity, disability, and many other traits in housing and work.
The bill’s main sponsor, Councilman Shaun Abreu came up with legislation after dealing firsthand with the hardships of weight discrimination.
Abreu claimed that after gaining 40lbs during the COVID-19 lockdowns he was treated differently. He described the experience as a "silent burden."
Mentioning victims of this type of discrimination, he claimed, "They're being discriminated against with no recourse and society saying that's perfectly fine."
The bill passed 44-5 in the city council on Thursday, and once signed by the mayor, will make New York City the sixth U.S. city with weight discrimination laws on the books. The other cities with similar laws are "Washington D.C., San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California; Madison, Wisconsin; and Urbana, Illinois," The Daily Mail reported.
Abreu claimed, "Just like any other protected category, like race or gender or age, this will be a new protected category and a claim that you can bring before the Commission on Human Rights."
The bill does include a provision defending employers who absolutely have to take into account height and weight when hiring.
Activist and influencer Victoria Abraham, who calls herself the "Fat Fab Feminist," strongly supported the bill and testified at the city council defending it. She recently told a local ABC affiliate, "In most places in the United States, you can get fired for being fat and have no protection at all, which is crazy because this is a very fat country."
Republican New York City council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli voted against the bill and has publicly pushed back against its passage. He argued that it would empower people to "sue anyone and everything."
In a statement to the New York Times, Borelli suggested the bill was coddling overweight people into feeling like aggrieved victims for their own choices. He said, "I'm overweight, but I'm not a victim. No-one should feel bad for me except my struggling shirt buttons."
