OPINION:
New York City Council members just passed a bill banning employers, public transportation officials and housing authorities from factoring in heights and weights of individuals as part of the decision making process for their various areas of jurisdiction. Several other cities, as well as the state of Michigan, already have such protections in place.
This is paving the path for more leftist delusions.
Democrats, who already think boys can become girls simply by wishing it so, will soon enough believe that fat people are not fat. Then they’ll want to insist that you stop believing fat people are fat. Then they’ll demand that anyone who calls out a fat person as fat is a bigot, a hater, an ugly vicious anti-fatter who probably, no definitely, voted for Donald Trump and should therefore be cast from civilization, with their little dog Toto, too.
That’s when the left really swings into high regulatory gear.
That’s when the leftists, the Democrats, the leftist socialists in the Democrat Party start making the case that the obese must have two seats, not one — for the price of one, of course; that police and firefighters must hire the roly-poly who can’t run or lift — and stop imposing discriminatory fitness standards on the unfit; and that credit ratings should not be taken into consideration when it comes to renting apartments to the corpulent — because this is a protected population and as such, they get special rights.
It is not about equality for all, after all.
It is about redefining equality to mean equity, where government pinheads pick and choose who gets, who does not, and who must give up what they worked for so all the playing fields are leveled.
Really, at root, it is about changing the minds and hearts of a whole society, so as to accept untruths as truths. At least the leftist loons pushing these bills and laws and regulatory controls admit that.
“It’s not only [about] protecting people in the workplace from this or in getting apartments, but it’s also about changing culture,” said New York City Councilman Shaun Abreu, who sponsored the bill, CNN reported.
Even his reasons for sponsoring this bill were typical leftist lunacy.
“Just recently someone who[m] I considered to be a friend came up to me and touched my stomach and said, ‘We’re getting bigger there, buddy,’” Abreu said, CNN reported. “It just speaks to the toxic culture that exists in the United States when it comes to people that are above their average peers’ weight.”
Oh boo freaking hoo. He got his feelings hurt. So rather than move on, rather than pursue life, he cried like a little girl and turned to government to fix his hurt feelings.
Voila. Like that, all that ugly “fat” is melted away.
Of course, it’s not really. Fat people will not lose their fat with this bill. But this bill and others like it will push society to see fat people as not fat — to press society to pretend that fat is not fat — or at the very least, keep quiet about fat people being fat.
It’s the shift in truths they’re really after, though.
Democrats always want to redefine lies as truths; abnormalities as norms; evils as good.
Just as it’s become socially unacceptable to call a boy in a girl’s skirt a boy, so it will soon enough be with calling an obese person obese — or a short person, short — or a tall person, tall. Americans will one day be stumbling around, eyes front, lips sealed, refusing to engage in conversations or even tolerate any others’ discussions of topics that touch on skin color, sex, weight, height. Police, as well as reporters in the press, in some jurisdictions already hesitate to describe a suspect as a black male, even though he is a black male. They already hesitate to call a transgender according to the birth sex, and instead go with the preferred pronoun or label. Next on the chopping block will be estimated heights and weights. Gotta be careful not to discriminate against heavy people, dontcha know.
“If there’s a job requirement where weight is related to the essential function of the job,” Abreu said,, Newsmax reported, “then that’s an affirmative defense that an employer will have.”
Sure. For now.
But why would a gym seeking a personal fitness training or a ballet company seeking a professional dance instructor need to have a solid “affirmative defense” at the ready in the first place? America is a free market. Pilates ain’t for everybody — neither, the career of yoga instructor. Or swimsuit model, for that matter.
If companies, including public service organizations, like police, fire, emergency medical transports and more, have to keep one eye on the needs for the job and the other on the government Fat Discrimination Board, then already services are being compromised. Already, energies and focuses are being divided and diverted.
This does not seem sound business practice.
This does not even seem sound science.
Once again, Democrats are trying to change realities by regulation. They’re trying to redefine a culture, one law at a time — one lie at a time. And they want everyone in America to tolerate and participate in the lies. Fat people shouldn’t be discriminated against because of their weight. Neither should thin people — or short people — or tall people.
But neither should sane people. And that’s the class Democrats really detest.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter and podcast by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Lockdown: The Socialist Plan To Take Away Your Freedom,” is available by clicking HERE or clicking HERE or CLICKING HERE.
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