Looks like it's finally time for New York businesses to invest in those extra-large chairs and some adult-sized booster seats. You're gonna need them now, as this new anti-discrimination law has gone into effect in New York City.
No joke, you can't discriminate against people based on their height or weight anymore.
A new city law that bans discriminating against someone because of their height or weight went into effect last week, six months after Mayor Eric Adams first signed the legislation.
The law adds those two categories to the list of characteristics that are protected from housing, job and public discrimination — alongside things like age, gender, race, religion and sexual orientation, according to the New York Times.
"All New Yorkers, regardless of their body shape or size, deserve to be protected from discrimination under the law," NYC City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilman Shaun Abreu said in a joint statement Sunday.
"Body size discrimination affects millions of people every year, contributing to harmful disparities in medical treatment and outcomes, blocking people from access to opportunities in employment, housing and public accommodations, and deepening existing injustices that people face," the statement added …
The city's Commission on Human Rights will investigate any complaints about weight discrimination.
Similar laws can be found in Michigan and Washington State, while lawmakers in Massachusetts and New Jersey consider the measures as well.
Quick question though: What about roller coasters or water slides? Those have actual height and weight limits. Are we just going to "trust the science" that obesity is love when we send Lizzo down the waterslide she will inevitably get stuck in? Can a dwarf ride the roller coaster at Coney Island even though he'll get thrown to his death on the big drop?
Is this guy going to get arrested 👇
WHO IS HE TO DENY THE AGE THEY IDENTIFY AS??
Getting a bit more on the serious side: Will public transportation be forced to install larger seats for the obese and smaller ones for dwarfs? Will the city be sued for not having large enough turnstiles? Is my airfare cost going to go up since there will need to be seats available to accommodate Gorlock the Destroyer (or at least a free second seat for her)?
Seriously, what does this new law mean, New York?
Must I hire obese people to work at my restaurant even though they'll be tired out and possibly eat all my product by their first break? Am I compelled to hire a little person at my window cleaning company even though they can't reach the first-floor windows?
This is a very slippery slope we're skiing on here, and I don't think it's going to work out how New York thinks it's going to work out. They're going to be stuck in legal battles left and right to figure out what in the heck this all means.
But maybe creating chaos is the point.
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