Boston, Mass. (December 19, 2024) – The Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is endorsing growing efforts to support fat liberation, both within Unitarian Universalism and in society at large.

In 2023, the UUA’s Board of Trustees adopted a statement supporting fat liberation and dismantling bias against fat people. The statement was developed in conjunction with efforts by the UU Fat Liberation Steering Committee to educate and highlight the lived experience of fat people, which included workshops and demonstrations of visibility at the denomination’s annual General Assembly meeting in June 2023.

The UUA Board’s endorsement of fat liberation embraces the aspiration for fat people to be fully valued members of the community, and for all to feel welcome and supported across the spectrum of body size and shape. “We celebrate that within Unitarian Universalism there is a growing sense of fat community and a voice for fat liberation from discrimination and stigmatization,” said the UUA’s Board of Trustees in the statement. “Fat people experience discrimination through lack of access to healthcare, housing, employment, and more. Social stigmatization in our larger culture and UU congregations inhibits full inclusion and participation.”

“As a faith tradition, Unitarian Universalists believe everyone is inherently worthy and has the right to flourish with dignity, love, and compassion. UUs hold shared values of equity, generosity, and transformation, among others,” said the Rev. Shige Sakurai, the UUA’s Special Assistant for Equity, Belonging, and Change. “The logical and loving result of our beliefs is that our religious communities will work to better embrace all body types and support fat liberation.”

Research like a 2023 study from the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), which found that “nearly 15 percent of U.S. workers say that others at work have made false assumptions about them because of their weight at some point in their career,” demonstrate why a justice lens should be applied to fat bias.Additionally, historically, bias against fat people arises out of racism and specifically white supremacy, as well as classism, ableism, and sexism.

“Fat people are used to being ignored, overlooked, and having the discrimination against us upheld by society,” said Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum, Minister of the First Parish Church of Stow and Acton and a member of the UU Fat Liberation Steering Committee. “For our faith to be taking the first steps towards becoming a fat liberationist faith is revolutionary!"

The UUA will work with UUA staff on implementing this commitment to work across the association. Additionally, UUA leadership has committed to: ensuring that the InSpirit bookstore will continue to offer a wide range of sizes and will charge the same price for all of the sized goods; providing more seating options for General Assembly in 2025, which will be a multiplatform event, with the in-person portion to be held in Baltimore; and making certain that UUA staff traveling on behalf of the Association have accommodations (such as seatbelt extenders or additional seats).

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About the UUA:

The UUA is the central organization for the Unitarian Universalist (UU) religious movement in the United States. Our faith is diverse and inclusive and the UUA’s 1000+ member congregations are committed to shared values and principles that hold closely the worthiness and dignity of each person as sacred, the need for justice and compassion, the right of conscience, and respect for the interdependent nature of all existence.