Free Republic

BOSTON: Legislation to add "weight and height" to anti-discrimination law in Massachusetts has been proposed to give special protection to short and fat people. The bill, which would make Massachusetts the second state in the United States to offer such protections, applies mainly to the workplace but also covers landlords and real estate interactions. Rep. Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat who is sponsoring the bill, said it is a question of civil rights. "This is one of the last physical aspects of people that you can acceptably laugh about," said Rushing, who is black, slim and of average height. "You...

Just about everyone gets a turn at discrimination-induced outrage in Ornery America. This week it's "people of size" -otherwise known as fat people -who take up too much space on airplanes. Beginning June 26, Southwest Airlines plans to start charging double for people whose girth consumes more than one seat. Fat people are furious; civil liberties lawyers are drooling; skinny people are skipping lunch. This is one of those cases where everybody's right and everybody's wrong all at the same time. Fat people are right that the airline's policy is discriminatory; civil liberties defenders are probably right that making...

<p>Southwest Airlines will start charging larger passengers for two seats on its 2,800 daily flights starting June 26.</p> <p>The airline, which operates out of 58 U.S. cities and is the largest carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, will begin charging "persons of size" for two seats if they think they may not fit comfortably in one.</p>

<p>June 20, 2002 -- Southwest Airlines hit turbulence yesterday over its plans to enforce a porker-profiling policy that doubles airfares for overweight fliers.</p> <p>A spokeswoman for Southwest defended the policy and said tubby travelers are treated no differently from "normal" customers.</p>

<p>Southwest Airlines will start charging larger passengers for two seats on its 2,800 daily flights starting June 26.</p> <p>The airline which operates out of 58 U.S. cities and is the largest carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, will begin charging 'persons of size' for two seats if they think they may not fit comfortably into one.</p>

<p>DALLAS (AP) --  Southwest Airlines is under fire for its policy of charging overweight passengers for two tickets if they spill over into their neighbor's seat.</p> <p>The airline says it is trying to provide a comfortable flight for travelers seated next to large passengers.</p>

Airline To Double Fare For 'People Of Size' SAN DIEGO, 1:37 p.m. PDT June 19, 2002 - Southwest Airlines says it will require people who cannot fit in a single airline seat to purchase two tickets beginning next week. Airline representatives say ticket agents will ask what the company calls "people of size" to pay for a second seat if they are too large for another passenger to be seated beside them. Ticket agents already have the option of charging double for large passengers, but they rarely use it. Now, Southwest says it will enforce the policy in every case....