Shamelessly yanked from a friend's journal but I felt the widest dissemination possible was necessary.
Someone proposed a law that would fine restaraunts for serving obese people. I kid you not ladies ad gentlemen. Mississippi wants to "draw attention" the problem with obesity in our dear country and feel that fining restaraunts that serve them is the proper way to do so. Many of you happy idealists would think that a law like that is unconstitutional, guess again. The law wouldn't fail on discrimination grounds because obese people are not a discrete and insular minority any more than gays and lesbians are. It is OK to discriminate against people who are considered obese (and I will rant about that particular label in a secondary post).
What disturbs me is that this wasn't legislation aimed at health care issues or the FDA for allowing additives in food known to cause pancreatic problems (which mess with hunger urges) or anything else even remotely close to a preventative measure. No, this was deliberately aimed at shaming fat people into not going out to eat in public. This was aimed directly at businesses that would have no choice but to shame fat people in order to stay in business. It is about the national stigma concerning people who don't fit some magazine glossy norm. Never mind that the people in those magazines don't look like that either (thank you airbrush).
I think I am going to be so fantastically sick it isn't even funny. I cannot even put together a proper rant. I have some legal research to do.
Here is the article if you want to read it:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/05/national/main3790418.shtml?source=RSSattr=HOME_3790418
