New York City mayor Eric Adams officially signed into law on Friday a ban on discrimination in New York City based on a person’s weight. This new law adds weight and height to the list of characteristics that are protected from discrimination, along with race, gender, age, religion, and sexual orientation, and will apply to employment, housing, and access to public accommodations.
"It shouldn't matter how tall you are, or how much you weigh, when you're looking for a job, when you're out on our town, or you are trying to get some form of accommodation or an apartment to rent, you should not be treated differently," said Adams in a signing ceremony.
The decision to put this into law has been a long time coming for years. Only know has the government finally listened to their fellow citizens.
Many New Yorkers have testified at a City Council hearing earlier this year about being discriminated against because of their weight. A student at New York University said that desks in classrooms were too small for her. A soprano at the Metropolitan Opera said she had faced body shaming and pressure to develop an eating disorder.
Public figures have expressed their support of this new law.
Tigress Osborn, chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, said New York City's new law could help spur similar legislation worldwide.
"We all know New York is the global city, and this will ripple across the globe in terms of showing to people, all over the world, that discrimination against people based on their body size is wrong and is something that we can change," said Osborn, who led a rally earlier this year to push for the bill to become law. "We can't legislate attitudes, but we can do everything that's in our power to ensure that people are treated equally,"
New York City Council Member Shaun Abreu, who sponsored the legislation, said the first rallies to end height and weight discrimination took place over 50 years ago in Central Park.
"This is a new day in New York City and I couldn't be more grateful," said Abreu.
The new city law set to take effect in 180 days.
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