Bill would make weight, height-based discrimination illegal in Mass.

A recently proposed bill to ban discrimination on the basis of weight or height would offer legal protection to certain demographics, but some predict public resistance to putting personal physique on par with gender, religion and sexual orientation.

Organizations like the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance and the National Organization of Short Statured Adults have rallied behind the bill, proposed by Boston Democrat Rep. Byron Rushing and considered at a public hearing March 25.

NAAFA spokeswoman Peggy Howell said she hopes the bill passes because it will call attention to an issue she thinks has gone unaddressed.

"People may not believe that people of size are discriminated against, but it is true," she said. "It happens on a daily basis."

Howell said a recent Yale study found that "sizism" -- discrimination based on a person's size -- is as prevalent as racism in today's society.

"We're being discriminated against just as severely as people are discriminated against for their race and in some cases, maybe even more so," she said. "People feel justified in discriminating against people of size because they believe that it's our own fault."

The bill would give larger people legal recourse if they experience sizism because there are currently no laws that protect "people of size," Howell said.

Boston University professor and sociology department Associate Chairman Daniel Monti said the bill's chance of passing is a "toss-up."

"Given everything else they've got to . . . this thing could be tabled faster than leftovers after Thanksgiving," he said.

Monti said the larger public might find it hard to compare height and weight discrimination to discrimination on the basis of race, religion and sexual orientation.

"You'd have to go through the same kinds of anti-discriminatory procedures as gender or race," he said. "It'd be very difficult to demonstrate."

If the bill is passed, Southwest Airlines said they will not change a policy that currently requires overweight passengers to purchase two seats if they cannot put down the armrest, Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said.

"When it really comes right down to it, it is a safety issue," she said.

The company does not do not have a weight restriction and offers a refund for the second seat if the plane is not full, McInnis said.

"People come in all different shapes and sizes, so it really doesn't have to do with the amount that you weigh," she said. "The armrest is a very standard gauge."

The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance criticizes Southwest's policy on its website, but McInnis said Southwest practices have been in place for more than 20 years and are not discriminatory because they ask for customers to "pay for what they use."

"You'll find that almost all airlines have some sort of policy like this," she said.