Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) has passed a motion to introduce measures against fatphobia in College.
The motion mandates the president and communications and marketing officer to “ensure that all clothing provided to members of the Union or sold in the SU shop are offered in an ample variety of sizes to accommodate people of all body types”.
The president and health sciences convenor is also mandated to lobby for the introduction of
weight-bias education in relevant courses.
The motion also mandates the president and welfare and equality officer to “incorporate the principles of weight-bias education in campaign weeks where relevant”.
The motion was proposed by Citizenship Officer Connor Dempsey and TCDSU President Gabi Fullam.
Speaking at council, Dempsey said that this will ensure all future doctors and nurses “are equipped to help all patients”.
Speaking to Trinity News before council, Dempsey said, “Council just acknowledging fatphobia will do a lot—people are ashamed to talk about it for a lot of reasons, so a public affirmation that there is nothing shameful about”.
According to the motion, “facilities, institutions and other programmes in College are not equally accessible to people of all body types, and are often specifically inaccessible for fat people”.
“The Union has not yet done enough to advocate against fatphobia and has work to do in ensuring its own services are equally accessible to people of all body types”.
The motion initially specified weight-bias education for “medicine and nursing students”, but was changed to “students” following an amendment to include more courses.
