Colorado poised to ban 'fatphobia' in workplace, housing
America’s thinnest state, Colorado, is expected to join a growing list of states to ban "fatphobia" discrimination against those who are overweight.
The law aims to prevent landlords from discriminating against renters due to weight limits and to implement workplace accommodations for overweight Americans.
The move comes as New York recently passed a similar law as obesity rates continue to soar across the U.S.
Other states, including Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey are also looking at passing similar bills.
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Michigan was the first state to ban weight-based discrimination.
The bill, passed in Michigan in 1976, also forbids discrimination on the basis of age and height.
According to data from Trust for America's Health, which used data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Colorado is the "skinniest" state with an obesity rate of 25 percent.
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West Virginia, the most obese state, boasts a 71 percent obesity rate.
According to Trust for America's Health, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma closely follow West Virginia as the most obese states.
Kristal Hartman, an activist with the Obesity Action Coalition, defended the legislation, saying that it will help "weight stigma, weight bias and weight discrimination."
"Just to humanize this disease, and to take away the blame, and the shame is incredibly important, just like it is all of the other types of discrimination that these laws are looking to abolish," Hartman said to NewsNation. "This is a huge step forward for us, and we really hope that this starts a grassroots effort across the US. So, weight stigma, weight bias, and weight discrimination is a thing of the past instead of part of our present or our future."
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The Rocky Mountain state's government is set to pass the new laws in 2024, The Daily Telegraph reported.