Bloomberg's Soda Ban Halted by Judge

[Content Note: Fat bias; eliminationism. Background: Blame the Fatties; Today in Fatties Ruin It for Everyone.]

New York City Mayor and "Anti-Obesity Crusader" Michael Bloomberg's proposed ban on sugary drinks in sizes greater than 16 oz at restaurants, street carts, and movie theaters has been struck down by a judge one day before it was supposed to take effect:

In an unusually critical opinion, Justice Milton A. Tingling Jr. of State Supreme Court in Manhattan called the limits "arbitrary and capricious," echoing the complaints of city business owners and consumers who had deemed the rules unworkable and unenforceable, with confusing loopholes and voluminous exemptions.

...The mayor's plan, which he pitched as a novel effort to combat obesity, aroused worldwide curiosity and debate — and the ire of the American soft-drink industry, which undertook a multimillion-dollar campaign to block it, flying banners from airplanes over Coney Island, plastering subway stations with advertisements and filing the lawsuit that led to the ruling.

It gives me no joy that it was corporate pressure, rather than respect for fat people's agency, that resulted in this ruling, but I'm nonetheless glad for the ruling, which subverts the execution of a campaign that centers fat hatred.

As with all of these campaigns, lest anyone imagine I am seeing fat hatred in a "health initiative" where none exists:

Mr. Bloomberg said he would immediately appeal, and at a quickly arranged news conference, he fiercely defended the rationale for the rules...

"I've got to defend my children, and yours, and do what's right to save lives," the mayor said. "Obesity kills. There's no question it kills."

Actually, there is a lot of question about that. People do not die of "obesity." Some fat people die from complications of what are commonly known as "obesity-related diseases," like heart disease and diabetes, but those diseases have only been shown to be correlated with fat, not caused by fat. (Which is why thin people have them, too.) So it's not even accurate to assert that obesity kills indirectly.

This, however, is a thing that is accurate to say: Fat hatred kills people all the time.

One of the most widely linked comments I have ever left in this space is this one, in response to a commenter who took issue with the idea that fat people are an endangered population.

No, there is not a documented epidemic of brutal murders of fat people for being fat, but there is a documented epidemic of failure to provide life-saving healthcare: Google will easily help you find stories of fat people who died while emergency crews laughed at their weight and appearance, of fat people who were told they should lose weight to fix problems actually caused by blood clots, cancer, internal injuries, infections, and myriad other problems that later killed them, because their doctors couldn't see past their fat to properly treat them. Google will also easily help you find stories of medical equipment that cannot accommodate fat bodies, of anesthetists who accidentally kill fat people in surgery, of doctors who prescribe wrong doses for fat bodies, of drug trials that make no attempt to include fat patients. Google will also easily help you find stories of fat people who did not seek life-saving healthcare because they had been so viciously fat-shamed by doctors their whole lives that they had given up hope of finding sensitive and caring providers who would treat them.

The blog First Do No Harm is an invaluable resource in its documentation of fat prejudice in healthcare. (See also. And here. Also over here. Etc.)

Obesity doesn't kill, but fat hatred does.

Additionally: "A 2013 study reported in the Journal of Eating Disorders documented that weight bias and stigma cause both physiological and psychological harm."

Internalized weight bias was associated with greater impairment in both the physical and mental domains of health-related quality of life. Internalized weight bias also contributed significantly to the variance in physical and mental health impairment over and above the contributions of BMI, age, and medical comorbidity. Consistent with the association between prejudice and physical health in other minority groups, these findings suggest a link between the effects of internalized weight-based discrimination and physical health. Research is needed on strategies to prevent weight bias and its internalization on both a societal and individual level.

Would that Mayor Bloomberg were half as concerned about the harm he and his fellow "anti-obesity" crusaders are doing to fat people's health.

I can (and do) choose not to drink sugary soda. I cannot, however, choose a life that is free from other people's public, shaming, harmful, bullying, dehumanizing, eliminationist fat hatred.

If you don't care at least as much about that as whether I drink a fucking soda, you're not interested in my health. And I'm not going to humor that sanctimonious codswallop anymore.