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Boulder , is set to become the first state in the US for 50 years to ban 'fat phobia' by law. And it is not alone in its aims to legislate in this way. Across America, politicians have been planning laws to add a person's weight to the list of characteristics such as race, age, religion and sexual orientation that are protected from discrimination.
Urged on by 'fat pride' groups which have sometimes served as official advisers, several other states are considering similar laws, including New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey.
Meanwhile, cities across the country have already started passing laws aimed at preventing discrimination against the fat – San Francisco, Washington DC and, as of last month, New York City, among them.
As the case of super-fit Colorado shows, the drive for fat acceptance is more about ideology than health.
Conservative states such as West Virginia and Kentucky, with the worst obesity problems in the country, are having no truck with such laws. But staunchly Democrat Colorado, woke to its core, sees itself as one of the most progressive beacons in the US. In 2014, it became the first state to legalise 'recreational' cannabis.
In fact, in almost all cases it is Left-wing cities and states that are pandering to the 'anti-fattist' lobby with new legislation – and very often the same ones that have tried to decriminalise drug use with disastrous consequences in terms of increased addiction rates and crime.
Health experts warn that the new legal protections could further fuel the appalling problems of obesity in the US caused by sugared drinks, highly processed junk food and sedentary lifestyles by normalising the condition.
How Fat Pride became the new battleground in America's culture wars
Indeed, the battle against fatphobia is already taking hold in Britain. In 2018, London-based Danish comedian and fat acceptance campaigner Sofie Hagen accused Cancer Research UK of 'fat-shaming' after it had the temerity to run a campaign raising awareness that obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking.
'How the f***ing f*** is this OK?' she wailed on social media, demanding the adverts be withdrawn.
Describing dieting as 'dangerous', she insisted it 'has been proved time and time again to be one of the worst things you can do to your body'. The charity countered that only 15 per cent of people know about obesity's link with cancer and its campaign was based on scientific evidence.
In America, some 42 per cent of adults are now technically obese (compared to around 30 per cent or so in Britain). The percentage of US children who are obese has quadrupled since the 1960s and now stands at around one in five.
The result of all this obesity is crushing health problems – drastically increased rates of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer – as well as a huge estimated annual medical cost of nearly $173 billion (£138 billion) in 2019.
Black and Latino people are disproportionately affected with half of adult African-Americans obese – which perhaps helps explain why Left-leaning politicians are so desperate to accommodate the anti-fattist lobby.
Urged on by 'fat pride' groups which have sometimes served as official advisers, several other states are considering similar laws, including New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey.
Meanwhile, cities across the country have already started passing laws aimed at preventing discrimination against the fat – San Francisco, Washington DC and, as of last month, New York City, among them.
As the case of super-fit Colorado shows, the drive for fat acceptance is more about ideology than health.
Conservative states such as West Virginia and Kentucky, with the worst obesity problems in the country, are having no truck with such laws. But staunchly Democrat Colorado, woke to its core, sees itself as one of the most progressive beacons in the US. In 2014, it became the first state to legalise 'recreational' cannabis.
In fact, in almost all cases it is Left-wing cities and states that are pandering to the 'anti-fattist' lobby with new legislation – and very often the same ones that have tried to decriminalise drug use with disastrous consequences in terms of increased addiction rates and crime.
Health experts warn that the new legal protections could further fuel the appalling problems of obesity in the US caused by sugared drinks, highly processed junk food and sedentary lifestyles by normalising the condition.
How Fat Pride became the new battleground in America's culture wars
Indeed, the battle against fatphobia is already taking hold in Britain. In 2018, London-based Danish comedian and fat acceptance campaigner Sofie Hagen accused Cancer Research UK of 'fat-shaming' after it had the temerity to run a campaign raising awareness that obesity is the biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking.
'How the f***ing f*** is this OK?' she wailed on social media, demanding the adverts be withdrawn.
Describing dieting as 'dangerous', she insisted it 'has been proved time and time again to be one of the worst things you can do to your body'. The charity countered that only 15 per cent of people know about obesity's link with cancer and its campaign was based on scientific evidence.
In America, some 42 per cent of adults are now technically obese (compared to around 30 per cent or so in Britain). The percentage of US children who are obese has quadrupled since the 1960s and now stands at around one in five.
The result of all this obesity is crushing health problems – drastically increased rates of heart disease, stroke, Type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer – as well as a huge estimated annual medical cost of nearly $173 billion (£138 billion) in 2019.
Black and Latino people are disproportionately affected with half of adult African-Americans obese – which perhaps helps explain why Left-leaning politicians are so desperate to accommodate the anti-fattist lobby.
