Despite having plenty of activism “opportunities” re. the CDC and Obama’s ongoing “obesity” hysteria and scapegoating, there’s nothing specific coming out of NAAFA as far as activism is concerned. There will, apparently, be some visits to Congress as part of this year’s convention, but what exactly will they be fighint for? WHERE’S THE PLATFORM? THE MISSION STATEMENT? THE PROPOSED LEGISLATION? THE PETITIONS? THE DEMANDS? ARE THEY FIGHTING TO KEEP SCAPEGOATING “INCENTIVES” OUT OF OBAMACARE? ARE THEY FIGHING THE CDC’S LEANWORK’S PROGRAM? IF SO, WHY AREN’T THEY SAYING SO IN POSITION PAPERS AND PRESS RELEASES AND IN OBVIOUS, EASY-TO-FIND AREAS OF THE WEBSITE? WHY, YET AGAIN, ARE SPECIFICS ONLY BEING DISCUSSED (if at all) BETWEEN A TINY HANDFUL OF INDIVIDUALS?????????

Maybe, maybe if there were an activism-only option ever for a NAAFA convention, I might attend, but I’ve already wasted too much time in my life on @#($*&%# fashion shows and “empowerment” exercises, and all that other safe, powerless, time-wasting stuff. NAAFA has been nothing but a social club for over forty years. I can’t see that they’re ever going to change. We’re already being killed by this society’s exploitation and hatred. If the current level of suffering can’t wake up NAAFA, I can’t imagine what could.

Kell,

There’s a Press Release on NAAFA’s website today that you or others interested in what NAAFA is doing might be interested in reading.  I’ve included the text of it in this message.  The NAAFA Board of Directors is working hard to move NAAFA forward toward their 5-year goals.  They appear to be doing it on a shoestring and with money in the bank. 

I was part of the team that visited senators and representatives.  It was an empowering experience. 

Elizabeth

NAAFA calls for healthcare reform and an end to discrimination against people of size.

For Immediate Release
August 11, 2009

Oakland, CA - NAAFA celebrated our 40th anniversary at an annual fund raising convention July 31-August 3 in Washington, D.C. The convention ended on a high note as NAAFA and ASDAH sent teams to visit more than 30 U.S. Senators and Representatives, as well as the USDA, delivering the message that healthcare reform legislation must eliminate weight loss as a measure of success in healthcare and wellness programs and that we must put an end to discrimination against people of size.

The 2009 NAAFA Convention commenced with a tribute to the past as members shared photos and stories of NAAFA’s beginnings as well as the growth and progress experienced during the past 40 years. NAAFA founder Bill Fabrey shared that he never imagined the organization would still be going strong all these many years later, but that he was proud of all of its accomplishments and looked forward to the next 40 years.

During the Annual General Meeting on Friday morning, co-chair Jason Docherty highlighted the accomplishments of the past year such as the creation and distribution of the NAAFA Size Diversity Toolkit to over 96% of the Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. He continued by sharing some of our strategic plans for the coming years.

During Saturday’s Size Diversity Super Workshop, Dr. Linda Bacon opened our eyes to the concept of “thin privilege”, which she defines as “unjust advantages at the cost of others.” So many conclusions are drawn about one’s health, habits and capabilities based solely on the size/physical appearance of our bodies. These assumptions lead to discrimination in employment, compensation, promotion, healthcare, housing, public accommodation and more. Dr. Bacon encourages people of all sizes to work to end this discrimination because “it’s the right thing to do.”

Sondra Solovay, Esq., discussed fighting size discrimination in the work place from a legal perspective and highlighted best practices in Human Resources in regards to size discrimination. Sondra encouraged employers to take advantage of NAAFA’s Size Diversity Toolkit and not make costly HR mistakes. Sondra concluded by reminding us of a lesson she learned on how to ride a motorcycle, “Don’t look where you are, look where you are going.” This advice will serve us well when the battle begins to feel overwhelming.

At the Saturday night Awards Dinner and Masquerade Ball, NAAFA honored key individuals that have made major strides for the movement over the past 40 years:
-The Legislative Pioneer Award was presented to Mr. Sterling Tucker who was responsible for adding height and weight to the anti-discrimination laws of Washington, D.C. in 1977.
-The Size Acceptance Vanguard Award went to our own Bill Fabrey for being the founding father of NAAFA in 1969.
-Dr. Linda Bacon was the recipient of the Trend-Breaking Research Award for her work in Health At Every Size.
-Dr. Lily O’Hara received the International Size Acceptance Trailblazer Award for her work in a country that has no size acceptance movement.

“Obesity causes $147 billion per year in extra medical costs in US” hit the headlines during the NAAFA convention and reporters began calling and writing, asking for NAAFA’s opinion of this announcement. NAAFA members Dr. Deb Burgard and Dr. Linda Bacon agreed to field interviews with NPR and CNN and our position on this important issue was clearly stated in a most timely manner. Dr. Bacon’s interview followed one given by the CDC’s Dr. William Dietz who agreed during the NPR interview that “people can be healthy at any size!”

Brandon Macsata, founder and president of the Association for Airline Passenger Rights (AAPR) with whom NAAFA has recently formed a strategic alliance, joined us for breakfast on Sunday as we began our day of training for the all so important visit to The Hill on Monday. Mr. Macsata shared tips for improving the quality of our travel experience and reinforced his commitment to fighting discrimination.

Joslyn Smith and Noreen Banks, activists and lobbyists teamed up with representatives from NAAFA and ASDAH to organize and coordinate advocacy training on Sunday afternoon and schedule our appointments with key players in the health care debate on Monday. The entire Advocacy Team invested many hours in research, planning, appointment setting, preparation of materials, and training which resulted in a truly historic visit to The Hill on Monday.

But these visits are only the beginning. We must continue to follow up with our legislators and provide them with more information to reinforce our commitment to size equality. NAAFA encourages you to email or call your legislators today. If you aren’t sure what to say, contact NAAFA and we’ll be happy to assist you with important speaking points. We must provide a unified message. We come in all sizes. Understand it, support it, accept it!

Founded in 1969, NAAFA is a non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for fat people. NAAFA works to eliminate discrimination based on body size and provide fat people with the tools for self-empowerment through public education, advocacy, and member support.

On the web: http://www.naafa.org

For more information contact:
Peggy Howell, Public Relations Director, NAAFA
email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Yes, I’ve read the press release already. I’ve tried to find the NPR and CNN interviews, but they’re not linked from either the CNN or NPR sites. Some points in brief:

There’s no place anywhere on the NAAFA site where a prospective member can find out what NAAFA actually stands for. Specifically, are Republicans welcome? Catholics? Libertarians? Centrists? Or, is the prevailing assumption that everyone is a Democrat/Socialist? If that’s the prevailing assumption, why doesn’t NAAFA say so specifically?

Also, why are there no position papers available to the public from NAAFA? I am still amazed that NAAFA is endorsing Obama"Care,” i.e. giving life & death decision-making power to the same goverment that is still preaching, with absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever, that fatness is caused by overeating, that fat people are lazy, that fat people eat junkfood all the time, that fatness is abnormal, that fat people are doomed, expensive, etc. etc. etc. This is also the same government that approved fenPhen, Vioxx, hormone replacement therapy, and has never done a single thing to rid the world of gastro-intestinal mutilation (aka. weight “loss” surgery). These are the folks you want to be in charge of rationing health care. It’s not bad enough that they’re already telling lies about us on a regular basis. You want to give them the ability to ration health care on the basis of those lies.

How was the decision to support ObamaCare made? Were the members polled? Was there some sort of referendum? Or, was it just assumed by the handful of people in charge that “of course” everybody loves Obama?

And, by the way, how many of the people contacted in DC during the convention were Republicans? Just curious…

Kell,

The seven of us from Louisiana visited Bill Cassidy’s office, and he is a republican.  I don’t have a list of others, but it never struck me that this was a partisan activity. 

As far as who is welcome in NAAFA, the “prevailing assumption” is that everyone who is fat or is in support of fat people is welcome, regardless of their religious or political beliefs. 

This doesn’t answer your specific questions, but for me NAAFA represents a philosophy of size acceptance.  Right now there is a very hard-working group of board members at the helm, and I am grateful to them not only for keeping NAAFA alive, but for dedicating their lives (and a good bit of their money) to support the organization.  I’m sure they don’t do everything perfectly, or exactly as I would, but they’re getting something done.  NAAFA’s finances are no longer in the red, and that’s an amazing accomplishment all by itself.  And instead of simply picketing the White House we were actually out there working to change legislation.  That’s progress. 

I came home ready to change things in my city, my state, and my country.  They must be doing something right, because I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Perhaps in time NAAFA will have the resources, both financial and staff-wise, to be able to provide all the types of information you’d like to see. 

Elizabeth

I have been asking for a mission statement and set of position papers from NAAFA for over twenty-five years.

You mentioned working to change legislation—what legislation? Which bills? Is there a draft of any proposed bills around? A set of talking points? Bullet points? Specific goals? What’s the language? Specifically?

Why is it so hard to get this across—that you can’t ask people to join an organization without stating clearly, in writing, what you stand for. This is especially true for NAAFA, which has such a long history of being coopted and corrupted and so inconsistent and secretive in its loyalties and assumptions. If hard and fast goals have ever existed, they’ve NEVER been shared outside of the inner circle.

Personally, any group I’d spend time supporting must show a clear commitment to evidence-based medicine, a willingness to challenge (Yes, I said CHALLENGE—including picketin and lobbying and letter campaigns and calling people out in press releases and petitions and asking a lot of people very hard questions) people who are basing their decisions on bigotry and mythology, and an absolute, unequivocable condemnation of GI mutilation. And, lately, I’ve added to the list a clear, unequivocable condemnation of any single-payer U.S. health plan, “private” (aka. oligarchical) or “public” (aka. socialist). I have no idea whether NAAFA agrees with ANY of these points, except the last. It looks very likely that NAAFA is supporting a single-payer system, even though this puts all stigmatized people at enormous risk. At this point, I quite literally would not be at all surprised if NAAFA came out tomorrow with an endorsement of lap-band surgery, or who knows what. I have no idea what a “philosophy of size acceptance” means. There are people all over the “movement” using that language who endorse GI mutilation, or use of amphetamines, or who are campaigning to get fenPhen back (seriously) who still call themselves “fat activists” working for “fat acceptance”.

As I’ve said before, for years and years and years, all you have to do is look at other political groups to get an idea of what’s needed. Position papers, bullet points, talking points, five-year plans, specific goals are all the hell over the place. Why NAAFA stays stuck in bland, fuzzy generalities I just don’t understand.

P.S. The petition against the LeanWorks program is a step in the right direction. However, it’s featured nowhere on the site—i.e. not listed under “Issues”, not easily recognizable as an action alert. It does show up on a press release, but that’s buried somewhere on the site a few clicks in. There’s no way for someone new to NAAFA to know that NAAFA actually does anything other than the annual Convention.

Kell,

NAAFA’s mission statement is on its website, at http://www.naafa.org:

Founded in 1969, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) is a non-profit civil rights organization dedicated to ending size discrimination in all of its forms. NAAFA’s goal is to help build a society in which people of every size are accepted with dignity and equality in all aspects of life. NAAFA will pursue this goal through advocacy, public education, and support.

Have you read through the NAAFA site since it was redesigned?  There is just tons of great information there.  For example, if you click on the EDUCATION link, you’ll see specific policy recommendation for employment, health care, and educational institutions, including a goal to have weight added as a protected class.

On the Sunday before we went to the hill, we spent the day being educated by a group of professional and well-spoken people in NAAFA and ASDAH.  We were given specific talking points, goals and bullet point.  At the convention we were also updated on where NAAFA is on every part of its 5-year plan.  They showed us the areas where fantastic progress has been made, and areas where there is still a need. 

I wish you well in your pursuit of a group that does meet your needs. 

Take care,

Elizabeth

Gee, I guess I’ve been dismissed. For anybody who’s still reading, here’s the Five Year Plan from the NAAFA site (yes, the dev site is the “current” site). I had to use a Google domain search to find it because there’s no direct path from it (at least, less than six links) on the site. This is from 2006, the most recent reference to the actual Plan. (There’s a progress report from 2007 that talks about internal finances and some membership stuff.)

“At our national convention just held in Boston, we introduced our five year plan, which includes the following six strategic initiatives: (1) to streamline our organization to make it more nimble, more effective, and more responsive; (2) to increase our membership by instituting a $15-a-year membership fee; (3) to pursue universal healthcare; (4) to promote our new legal aid program - FLARE, the Fat Legal Advocacy, Rights, and Education Project; (5) to promote civil rights compliance and enhanced legislation ensuring the rights of people of size; and (6) to establish a national grassroots action team for child advocacy.”

Yes, I had seen this before, and, I state again, these are not specific goals, other than the 15 fee and the “FLARE” project. There was a mention about three years ago of the FLARE project. From out here, looks like that died out. (If any info is available to the public, it’s not obvious where it is.)

#3’s a problem. There’s no fine print that says “Pursue universal healthcare that doesn’t include giving life or death control to death panels who will be using BMI charts to determine who does or doesn’t get medical treatment.” Personally, this is a rock-solid deal breaker, and should be for anyone without a death wish.

5 & 6) No specifics. What does “enhanced legislation” mean? What level of government? What’s in the works? Protesting Leanworks is a start, but, it’s the only political action I’ve seen NAAFA take in the past five years.

I was wrong about one thing—there is a policy from about three years back that’s actually fairly easy to find (about/policies/scroll down) against weight loss surgery. At least we agree on one thing.