The San Francisco Division of Public Well being has employed a self-described “anti-weight-based discrimination” knowledgeable to seek the advice of on “weight stigma and weight neutrality.”
Virgie Tovar, the writer of ‘You Have the Proper to Stay Fats” and different printed works on “fats positivity and physique acceptance” introduced on her Instagram Monday that she was employed to seek the advice of for the division, calling the collaboration an “absolute dream come true.”
“I’m unbelievably proud to serve town I’ve known as dwelling for nearly 20 years on this approach!” she wrote. “This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and it’s my greatest hope and perception that weight neutrality would be the way forward for public well being.”
Tovar’s web site lists her as a ”plus-size Latina writer, lecturer, and main knowledgeable on weight-based discrimination and physique positivity with over a decade of expertise.”
She is a contributor for Forbes, the place she covers tales on the “plus measurement market.”
Her most up-to-date articles embody options about internet hosting a “measurement inclusive” Thanksgiving and alleged “fatphobia” in present TV exhibits.
It’s unclear what function Tovar will play throughout the division.
The San Francisco Division of Public Well being didn’t reply when requested by Fox Information Digital about particulars of Tovar’s consultancy.
Tovar has been vocal towards weight loss plan tradition and BMI metrics on her social media platforms.
In a video posted by Mission Heal, Tovar mentioned how medical professionals pressured her to shed some pounds since she was a toddler and that she had falsely believed they had been doing so together with her well being in thoughts.
“I actually believed that this was about my well being. I actually believed my physician was proper and so I used to be utilizing the language of getting “higher” however I used to be truly deeply within the throes of anorexia,” she mentioned.
In July, Tovar posted that she carried out a weight bias coaching for unidentified authorities staff, sharing 4 suggestions she taught to assist lower “stigma round meals and our bodies at work.”
“1. Speak much less or under no circumstances about the way you and others eat at work,” she wrote. “2. Speak much less or under no circumstances about you or others’ our bodies at work. 3. Speak much less or under no circumstances about train at work. 4. Don’t presume that meals, weight, physique measurement or train are protected or comfy subjects to debate at work for everybody.”
In a separate Instagram put up, Tovar held up an indication with the phrases “I don’t need Ozempic,” sharing that she was provided the weight-loss drug freed from cost however declined it as a result of it might not “remedy weight bias.”
She has additionally been vital of the characterization of weight problems as a “illness.”
Tovar presents DEI company trainings, per her web site, which lists the Seattle Transit Company, UC Berkeley and different notable firms as former purchasers.
Tovar couldn’t be reached by Fox Information Digital for remark.
