What is Bill H1844 and why do I care? I will give you a link to the full text of the bill later on, but simply put it is Human Rights legislation which would add the words “height” and “weight” to the list of reasons why you can’t discriminate against someone in the state of Massachusetts.

I’ll bet you didn’t know that it was legal to discriminate against someone based on the size and/or shape of their body, but it is in every state except Michigan (there are also three cities in the country where it has been made illegal) which has had those words in their anti-discrimination legislation for more than 30 years without causing any great hardship to employers or a rash of frivolous law suits brought by fat and tall people who want to become jockeys.

Like any Human/Civil Rights legislation, all this bill would do is give people who perceive that they have been discriminated against a right to stand up and try to make a change. It doesn’t guarantee anyone that they will win or that change will come overnight.

I went down to Boston on March 25 and testified in favor of the bill before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development. I have posted my statement on the Web, CLICK HERE if you would like to read it.

CLICK HERE to read the text of the bill.

CLICK HERE figure out who your State Senator and Representative are and how to contact them.

If you have any questions or comments for me, please send them along.

Thank you for supporting the on-going battle for Human Rights and Equality in this great nation of ours!

CLICK HERE to read the article on iBerkshires.com, and the fat-bashing comments it engendered.

CLICK HERE to read an article about my efforts which ran in the North Adams Transcript on April 2.

CLICK HERE to read the article my son, who accompanied me to the hearing in Boston, wrote for the MCLA Beacon.