The San Francisco Health Department hired a so-called "fat positivity” expert to consult on “weight stigma and neutrality” despite the city's rampant crime and open-air drug use. The move raises significant concerns about public health and its message to society. By prioritizing "fat positivity" over evidence-based health guidelines, the San Francisco Health Department could inadvertently promote a narrative that ignores the critical importance of maintaining a healthy weight, potentially leading to further erosion of personal responsibility and health standards in the community.
Virgie Tovar, the author of 'You Have the Right to Remain Fat,” gloated that she was hired to basically promote obesity and unhealthy lifestyles in the city, calling it an "absolute dream come true.”
“I'm unbelievably proud to serve the city I've called home for almost 20 years in this way!" Tovar wrote. "This consultancy is an absolute dream come true, and it's my biggest hope and belief that weight neutrality will be the future of public health.”
Tovar, a self-described expert on "anti-weight-based discrimination," contributes to Forbes, covering topics related to the "plus size market." Her recent articles include features on hosting a "size-inclusive" Thanksgiving and discussing claims of "fatphobia" in current television shows.
Critics were quick to call out the tone-death absurdity of the new position while the city was being overrun with homelessness, drug addiction, and crime.
“This is real?” Elon Musk wrote on X, while another pointed out that San Francisco’s goal is not to fix any of its problems but to make people feel better about themselves.
San Francisco just appointed Virgie Tovar as the city’s “Fat Positivity Czar” or some such nonsense.
— filius libertate (@76LibertyAlways) December 17, 2024
Age: 37
Height: 5’3”
Weight: 250#
BMI: 44.3
I am pleased to inform you this part of the “Woke Culture” has been soundly rejected and is herefore cancelled. pic.twitter.com/InnEpHRpe9
San Francisco Health Department hires 'fat positivity' expert to consult on 'weight stigma & neutrality'. Virgie Tovar, author of 'You Have the Right to Remain Fat,' said it’s an absolute dream come true' while eating a gallon of chocolate chip ice-cream pic.twitter.com/HkfrbtnigB
— Black Semi Fascist (@BFacist) December 18, 2024
Tovar criticized doctors who, in the past, expressed concerns about her weight and claimed they were attacking and pressuring her to lose weight for no reason. She also hosts DEI corporate training, which she has done at the Seattle Transit Agency, UC Berkeley, and other notable companies.
The health department has yet to specify how the new position will be running or how success will be measured.