Fatphobic messages are everywhere. In media, in comedy, in advertising. Even in children’s shows. Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a bad bitch who took no shit, but naturally her grotesqueness was synonymous with her fatness. From the before and after posts on Instagram, FitnessPal apps on your phone to track each calorie and macronutrient, and clothing choices screeching to a halt past size 16 — society reinforces that fat bodies are bad and unwelcome. Existing in a world that is not made for you is already a reality for queer people. It is doubly so for queer fat people (as well as queer people with disabilities and accessibility requirements).
Fatphobia in the LGBTQAI+ community is a queer issue. The rampant gatekeeping exploding as of late seeks only to divide us — why give the anti-trans extremists and homophobes what they want and implode from within? Queerness is at the heart of rejecting cisheteronormative, patriarchal notions of what is a “right” body, a “good”, body, or a “correct” body. Ask any fat queer person if they’ve felt discriminated against within the queer community as a result of their weight and the answers will speak for themselves.
As we (hopefully) move forward from the “no fats no femmes no asians” world of thin-white exclusivity into a broader sphere…
