In early February, a billboard appeared, hovering above a San Francisco freeway.

It was advertising a gym that shall remain nameless because I've already given them way too much free publicity, and it showed a space alien's head and the oh-so-inviting slogan, "When they come, they'll eat the fat ones first." What ever happened to, "Take us to your leader," or, "We come in peace"?

Marilyn Wann is the author of the fabulous book Fat!So?

We enlisted the help of the aliens by dressing up like them and carrying signs that said, "The fat truth is out there," "Stop exploitation of emaciated aliens," and "Bite my fat, alien butt!"

I rounded up a bunch of fat and thin friends to protest in front of the gym with signs reading "This gym alienates fat people," "Gyms are for every body," "Eat me—I'm yummy," "Honk if you're fat," and "Honk if you love your body."

In the weeklong aftermath of the protest, I did a few dozen radio interviews, ranging from incredibly friendly to incredibly hostile; I was on Leeza and MSNBC. I went up against the ceo for the evil gym and some of his henchpeople. Our crazy little piece of street theater was discussed on The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The View, and CNN. Evidently, the sight of happy fat people, exercising joyfully and laughing at the people who would laugh at us, is newsworthy, or at least entertaining. Now, it would be great if that weren't such a novelty-but hey, it sure helped our publicity effort.

The bad news: By the time the furor died down, the evil gym had gotten several million dollars worth of free advertising on national tv. (They should pay me, only I don't accept donations from bigots.) They sold t-shirts with the space alien ad on their website. They've expanded the ad campaign and plan to extend the run of the billboard that caused the fuss. I see it every time I cross the bridge from Berkeley into San Francisco. So much for remorse.

The good news, part one: Millions of people got to see some happy, healthy, proud fat people—perhaps for the first time.

The good news, part two: A San Francisco politician asked the city's human rights commission to look into adding weight as a protected category to the antidiscrimination policy. You know the one: We do not discriminate based on race, sex, age, sexuality, disability, ancestry, etc.

This is big, fat, historic stuff! Currently, fat people have no such legal protection except in the havens of Santa Cruz, California; Washington, D.C.; Madison, Wisconsin; and the state of Michigan. Discrimination allows an insurance company to charge me four times more than a thin person for my medical coverage-solely on the basis of my weight. It translates into lower wages: Fat women earn an average of nearly $7,000 less than comparably employed thin women, according to a 1993 survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Everything from college admissions to apartment rentals have been shown to be affected by fat discrimination.

The city's human rights commission loved the idea. They voted unanimously to send a strongly worded message to the evil gym, telling them their billboard was naughty. They then referred the issue on to the city's board of supervisors, which will hold hearings where we will have a chance to make the case that fat people deserve respect-even if we don't lose weight. We will have the chance to make weight-related discrimination on the job, in housing, in education, in access to public accommodations, and in health care illegal.

See what energetic and imaginative fat rebels of all sizes can do? The next step is to take this battle to the state and federal levels. Pick a slow news day and create a little street theater of your own. **

Editor's followup note: In early 2000, Marilyn's protest led the city of San Francisco to officially make size discrimination illegal!

Marilyn Wann is a flabulous fat activist and the author of Fat!So? For People Who Don't Apologize for Their Size. Send her one- to two-paragraph stories of fat discrimination at marilyn@fatso.com, and she'll use them in support of establishing protective laws in San Francisco.