In a recent blog post I wrote entitled ” Society, Health, and the Politics of Being Fat”, I made the comparison that fat shaming is going to become the new homophobia. I struggled with this comparison and considered leaving it out. It was admittedly a bit over the top, but I didn’t think that it would diminish the struggles and hard-fought victories of members and supporters of the LGBTQ community.

To some degree, the comparison is apt because both “gay” and “fat” are used by society to describe undesirable things. However, in that regard, it is similar to any other form of prejudice.

Buried near the end of a lengthy personal essay, I did not include this to be intentionally sensationalistic. I apologize for my insensitivity - it certainly was not my goal to marginalize anyone.

It’s difficult to compare types of prejudice, maybe impossible. I think that, like calling something “gay” in a derogatory sense has begun to see a push back from main stream society, using the term “fat” in a similarly derogatory way will also become ignorant slang. The oppression of the LGBTQ community and fat people are distinct, and it is wrong to suggest otherwise.