HISTORY OF FAT LIBERATION MONTH

In the fall of 2020, Clark Beltran wrote an essay for the NAAFA blog about Latino Heritage Month. In his essay, he reflected on what it means to him as Mexican-American man to have a national celebration of his ethnic heritage, and as a gay man to have Pride Month, but not to have something similar about his identity as a fat man. In his words:

“So what about celebrating being a person of size? Where is our Fat Pride Month where our society celebrates the accomplishments of those brave individuals of size who have succeeded in life educationally, financially, and spiritually in a world that tells us we can’t?”

Clark’s essay was promoted on the NAAFA’s social media, and a discussion on NAAFA’s main page included a suggestion from activist/performer Juane Tango that “we” (fat community) could have such a celebration. They did not explicitly charge NAAFA to organize it. They noted that they have made this suggestion in the past, as well as suggesting that fat people have a celebratory flag. Darliene Howell (then NAAFA Chair) and Tigress Osborn (then Chair Elect and Director of Community Outreach) brought the suggestion to the NAAFA Board for discussion. The Board agreed that the Future of NAAFA Committee would be a good place to work out details. The Future of NAAFA Committee began brainstorming ideas and making plans. In the spring of 2021, NAAFA prepared to launch Fat Liberation Month in May 2021.

As we planned for the first Fat Liberation Month, we researched what kinds of similar celebrations or observances had already been planned. We want to acknowledge the following people for event and ideas shared publicly before the launch of Fat Liberation Month. Because we’ve invited the entire world to use #FatLiberationMonth and to plan their own events this year and in the future, we will not be able to acknowledge everyone who celebrates Fat Liberation Month going forward, but here are the folx we found who came before us.

Blogger Denarii Grace (@writersdelite) (they/her) has led an online Fat Acceptance Month in 2019 and 2021. Their first observance was also covered by The Tempest in 2019.

Karabelo Makale (@fierce.goddess, @womenxempowerment) used also used the hashtag #fatacceptancemonth on Instagram in 2019 for several posts.

A Small Town Monarch (@femmina) began using #fatliberationmonth in January 2020 “just out of exhaustion with how January usually is” regarding weight stigma and dieting pressure. They invited others to push back by declaring a month of freedom and using the hashtag.

Dr. Victoria Reuveni (@drvixenne) (she/her) was the first person on Instagram to use the #fatliberationmonth on January 7, 2020.

In 2017, Luis Heredia wrote an editorial for the Hora Jaen, a Spanish editorial website, advocating for a Dia Orgullo Gordo (Fat Pride Day).

After the first Fat Liberation Month (FLM) in May 2021, we received feedback that it would be better to move FLM to a different month in 2022 in order to better focus on Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May. The NAAFA Board of Directors voted to change the 2022 Fat Liberation Month celebration to the month of August.