MA Height and Weight bill--hearing and legislative briefing

Hello All:

Thank you for your ongoing support and advocacy for H. 1844, An Act to Eliminate Discrimination on the Basis of Weight and Height, in Massachusetts sponsored by Rep. Byron Rushing.

I am writing to let you know that we have a hearing date for the bill: March 25, 2008.Please contact me individually if you are interested in testifying before the Committee on Labor and Workforce Development and/or organizing others to testify and speak to legislators following the hearing.

In addition, we would like to organize an informational briefing for legislators and staff about what the bill will do and the need for the legal protections it seeks to provide prior to the hearing. Ideally, we would like a panel of 4-5 experts to speak about the legal aspects of the bill, what is being done in other jurisdictions, related medical and scientific data, and employment discrimination experienced by individuals based upon height and/or weight. We would like to hold this briefing at the MA State House the week of March 10. We can arrange a specific date based upon the availability of those willing to attend.

Please contact me if you would like to continue to work with us on this important legislation!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

Fay

Fay Sliger
Deputy Chief of Staff
Second Assistant Majority Leader
Representative Byron Rushing
State House Room 481
Boston, MA 02133
p-617.722.2180
f-617.722.2881

In the closet with heightism

Martin Luther King Jr.

Racism, the belief that one race is supreme and all others are inately inferior will never be completly eradicated. Neither will heightism.

I understand how some african-americans or other groups could take offense to our comparing our struggles with theirs, in that we were never enslaved or subject to mass genocide because of heightism prejudice.

But we still face prejudice and discrimination and what makes it worse for us is that few people are willing to acknowledge it. Whereas it is generally acknowledged that others have faced and still do face "real" discrimination and something ought to be done to stop it.

I would personally prefer to live in a world were no human being ever had to endure the pain of prejudice and discrimination of any kind. I don't think it helps our cause to point out who suffers more. We should simply acknowledge that we all face different degrees of this awful human behavior. I believe that we should ultimately work towards eliminating ALL prejudice regardless of who it is directed at. To not do so is the height of hypocrisy and foolishness.

- Matthew Campisi
President
NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults

NOSSA Appoints New Secretary to Board

The Board of Directors of NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults has appointed Brian Peterson to serve as Secretary (Special Trustee). Brian is committed to helping short statured people. We want to welcome Brian to the Board and we Thank him for his willingness to serve.

NOSSA Forums

NOSSA Forums will be located at
http://forums.nossaonline.org Please stop by, register, and contribute to the ongoing discussions. This will be a great way for you to share your thoughts about the issues faced by short statured people.

Chris Hamre Awarded Activist of the Year 2008

NOSSA Vice-President Christopher Hamre has been awarded the heightism activist of the year award for 2008.Mr. Hamre's tireless efforts to address heightism deserve special recognition and praise. Way to go Chris! Previous winners have included Steven Goldsmith in 2006 for his www.shortsupport.org website and Representative Byron Rushing in 2007 for his proposed height/weight legislation in Massachussets.

2008

Hi everyone!

Well, another year has come and gone and now we are in 2008. It was a good year for NOSSA in 2007. But we must now turn our attention to the new year and press forward with our efforts to combat this heightism prejudice and support our fellow short statured brothers and sisters. We will be launching the new messageboard on or around January 21, 2008 at http://forums.nossaonline.org The forum will be a great way for our members and general public to contribute to the on-going heightism discussion. We will also be hosting a heightism seminar on March 9, 2008 in Clearwater, Florida. For more information on attending please click here. The podcasts will resume soon and we will be tackling new topics and featuring some very special guests. Click here for the podcast link. We hope to end our year with a bang at our first annual convention in New York. For more info on this click here. There has never been a better time than right now to join our group and take a firm stand against heightism. To join us go to http://www.nossaonline.org/joinus.html

Happy New Year From NOSSA!!!

NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults wishes you and your loved ones best wishes for a wonderful new year. We look forward to the new year with much hope and enthusiasm. We have many exciting things planned for 2008. We invite you to join us in our efforts to support short statured people. God bless all short statured people and god bless the National Organization Of Short Statured Adults.

Happy Holidays!

The National Organization Of Short Statured Adults wishes you and your family a very safe, happy, and healthy holiday season. We truly have had a great year here at the organization. We have made so many new friends and we have strengthened our relationships with those who have remained loyal members since our start. Thank you for being a part of this worthy endeavor. God bless all short statured adults, especially the fine members of NOSSA - National Organization Of Short Statured Adults. :)

Support Massachusetts Height/Weight Bill

The Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is considering bill H.1844, sponsored by Byron Rushing, which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate based on height and weight. Jurisdictions in the United States routinely protect citizens from discrimination based on race, color, religion, creed, national origin, sex, and sexual orientation. Yet is it perfectly legal to deny employment, promotion or raises based on a person's height. That discrimination is real. Research shows that short people lose about $800/year per inch of height

Only one other state, Michigan, makes it illegal to discriminate based on person's height or weight. These protections were added to their discrimination laws in 1979. Since then we have seen very little progress. The only other governments that have similar protections are the cities of San Francisco and Santa Cruz.

Now there is an opportunity to correct these injustices but action is required. If you are a resident of Massachusetts, please contact your State Senator and District Representative and ask that they support this bill.

Thanksgiving Message

Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks for all of our blessings in life. We at NOSSA want to take this opportunity to give thanks to all of our members and supporters who have stood behind us in our good fight against heightism. We hope that you have a very wonderful holiday season. We have some good things planned for 2008. We hope that you will continue to support us in our efforts to help short statured people. Cheers everyone!

Message From NOSSA Chairman

Members of NOSSA,

I want to thank you for your support of NOSSA in 2007. Your support is very much appreciated. I am also contacting you today to ask you if you would please consider supporting us with a voting membership in our group in 2008. I want to tell you more about what NOSSA is doing to support short statured people and also how much your voting membership helps.

NOSSA is a united organization of short men and women from around the globe, promoting the message of self-empowerment for all of its members, providing a supportive environment in which to share experiences, and committed to opposing heightism in society.

You might be asking yourself, well what exactly does that mean or in what ways does NOSSA do all of this? Well allow me to elaborate further:

There are many people in the world who struggle with issues related to their height. Some experience height discrimination at work, school, or when it comes to finding love. Some face psychological and/or physical bullying. Others have even considered suicide. Sometimes it’s just a matter of feeling a bit inadequate, or for others it could involve a profound feeling of shame. As a short statured man or woman you know exactly what’s it’s been like for you to live as an adult of below average height. Whether your experiences have been extremely tough or not so bad, you still have something to give and receive with a membership in NOSSA. At NOSSA we are all about supporting each other. If you are having a rough time, we are here to listen and support you. If you feel you have overcome certain obstacles in life, why not give something back by sharing your insights with people who are dealing with similar struggles? We are creating a community of people who truly understand and are going to listen and support you without any fear of being judged or dismissed.

At NOSSA, you set your own level of involvement. You can be very active and attend organization meetings and events, or you can simply communicate through the internet on our message forums or through e-mail. Either way you are sure to make some lasting friendships with people who share something in common with you. It’s comforting to know that you can always pick up the phone and call the group or a member when you really need someone to talk to that understands.

By now, I’m sure you know what heightism is. It’s an awful prejudice that many people simply don’t understand or even care to understand. We want to change that. We want people to understand exactly what heightism is so they can begin to re-evaluate their own beliefs about short stature. Is it really so horrible to be short? Well, yeah it can be, but it has very little to do with actually being short and mostly to do with how most of society perceives short stature and also how we might perceive it. See it’s all a matter of perception and perceptions can change. So maybe what short statured people really need is a good PR campaign? Well, that’s part of what we hope to accomplish. Let’s join together to spread the message that there is absolutely nothing wrong with being short.

At NOSSA we are disseminating knowledge about short stature to the public and encouraging more responsible research about short stature. We also promote the acceptance of short stature in everything that we do. We are committed to assisting children and young adults who are struggling with heightism. We are also monitoring the media to address negative messages that are carelessly being perpetuated about short statured people. What happens when people face height discrimination at work or are scammed by some bogus growth enhancement product? NOSSA is able to help our members with these types of problems.

Most alarming to us is the increase in the use of “cosmetic” human growth hormone injections in short but otherwise healthy kids and in an increase in painful leg lengthening procedures. It’s amazing what people are willing to do to gain a few extra inches in height. Would it upset or surprise you to learn that the United States Government approves of this? See, these kids don’t need any extra growth hormone. There bodies are healthy and make all the hGH they need. But the kids are given these injections so they can grow taller, so they can someday grow to “normal” height. The risks include the possibility of certain cancers developing, hypertension, spontaneous bone fractures, headaches, fevers, stomach problems, vomiting, impaired glucose tolerance, and kidney damage. Do you agree that there is something wrong with a society that prefers hGH body modification to the full acceptance of short stature?

If you do, we need you to join us and support what it is we are doing. For a mere $35.00 (USD) your membership helps support our activities as mentioned above. Together as a group, we will unite to address problems like these and to support one another in a way unlike anything you have ever experienced before. But the group cannot do this without you. The success of NOSSA depends on you and whether you are willing to step up to the plate and tackle the issue of heightism with us.

Please don’t put it off until later. Join NOSSA Today!

Respectfully,

Matthew Campisi
Chairman/President
NOSSA

Heightism MessageBoard Forums

Thank you to everyone who has visited and posted on our Heightism Messageboard Forum since it's creation in 2005. At last count we had over 300 members from all corners of the globe, reading and posting on our website. The site will no longer be hosted by Aimoo. We are moving the site to a new and improved location which will offer our visitors an even better forum online. NOSSA will launch the new forums soon. Check back here often for the latest news or visit www.nossaonline.org for the link when it becomes available. Thanks everyone!

Dating While Short - A True Story

A recent article from one of the various dating websites:

Author Unknown:

If you're a regular reader, you probably knew that I was on the CBS Early Show in July. Appearing with me was one of my all-time favorite clients, Tom Pandolfo. Charming, charismatic, successful, warm, athletic... Tom has it all. The only thing missing in his life is a woman. So, after hiring me as his dating coach, we set to work in rebranding him on Match.com.

We took new professional photos. We had Tom fill out my long questionnaire and submit to an hour of questions from me on the phone. We wrote two new profile essays that were unique, funny and confident. We renamed him "LookMaNoHair".

And we watched as his in-box filled up with interested women.

You can see what a great experience it was in this CBS Early Show clip:

What I haven't yet mentioned is that Tom Pandolfo is 5'3".

I didn't want to mention it for the same reason that Tom didn't want to mention it in his profile: because it's irrelevant to anything that makes him a good accountant, husband, or father. Yet his height defines him, since it has prevented otherwise interested women from being interested in him over the course of his entire life.

This instantly reminded me of a story that ABC did years ago on this very issue.

To see if the women would go for short guys who were successful, ABCNEWS' Lynn Sherr created extraordinary résumés for the shorter men. She told the women that the shorter men included a doctor, a best-selling author, a champion skier, a venture capitalist who'd made millions by the age of 25.

Nothing worked. The women always chose the tall men. Sherr asked whether there'd be anything she could say that would make the shortest of the men, who was 5 feet, irresistible. One of the women replied, "Maybe the only thing you could say is that the other four are murderers." Another backed her up, saying that had the taller men had a criminal record she might have been swayed to choose a shorter man. Another said she'd have considered the shorter men, if the taller men had been described as "child molesters."

Lest you think this is an example of reality TV finding evidence to support a story, Tom tried his own experiment last week. Sure enough, few women give a fair shake to a man who is 5'3", no matter what else he has going for him.

I'm going to let Tom take it from here.

So I tried changing my profile for three days just to see what the difference was between being 5'3" and 5'10". I wanted to know if height was the only difference and the constant deal breaker. So I moved my profile from Pittsburgh and posted it for 3 days in a town where nobody knew me ( Philadelphia). Here's what I found:

5'3" in Pittsburgh 5'10" in Philadelphia



Mutual matches 0 80

Reverse matches 12 400

Petite women w/pics w/in 50 miles 45 650

Views in 3 days 11 212

Emails received - unsolicited 0 32

Winks received - unsolicited 2 28

Emails sent out 6 6

Replies received to emails sent out 0 6

This proves, in stark and undeniable terms, two things:

Life - and people - can be incredibly unfair. We talked about this just the other day. People want what they want. They're attracted to what they're attracted to. And no amount of complaining is going to change it.

Oh, and I am one helluva dating coach. 60 unsolicited contacts in three days? Six replies from six emails sent? Come on. That's pretty damn good!

Okay, I'm kidding about the last part, but only because I'm so serious about the rest of this. Really, it kills me.

Believe me, Tom is no "woe-is-me" kind of guy. He's just been confronted with a very ugly reality that has shaken his confidence in people. And even though we had good initial results, the fact remains, empirically: women don't want short men.

And although you can feel free to substitute "older women", "older men", "heavier women", or "Asian men", I honestly feel that nobody gets a rawer deal than short guys.

Short Men More Prone to Pedophillia?

Recently, a study was conducted by the Toronto Center for Addiction and Health, which suggested that shorter men were more prone to pedophilia than were taller men. The study cited the fact that adverse conditions inside the mother's womb, which may lead to underdevelopment, can contribute to short stature and some psychological issues. This led to the assumption that a shorter man can have an attraction to children. Here is a link to an article from the Toronto Star:

http://www.thestar.com/article/269404

NOSSA questions the validity of this study and wonders what purpose it is serving by releasing this information. Even if it is flawed, or skewed, it can still cause people to view us shorter people, especially men, with more cynicism than they already do. This story is inflammatory and could potentially lead to physical harm against short men who are otherwise innocent.

We are not going to question that fact that poor prenatal care, or irrresponsible mothering while a child is inside the womb, leads to poorer health down the road. However, to go as far as equating those issues with a propensity to commit heinous sexual acts against a child is preposterous and irresponsible!

It's bad enough that we are viewed as less intelligent than someone taller, seen as childish and immature, and unfairly labeled with a "Napoleon Complex" if we dare to be ambitious or outspoken; now we may have to deal with the stigma of pedophilia. Any other group would be outraged with this and NOSSA is no exception!

We do hope that all media types will address this particular issue immediately and not print or air the results of this fallacious and hurtful study.

I would like to thank Toronto Star reporter Lynda Hurst for her attention to this matter and giving us the opportunity to have our voices heard.

-Chris Hamre
Vice-President, NOSSA

Shorter People Have A 'Chip On Their Shoulder' Which Makes Them Unhealthy?

Those not blessed with height are often accused of having a chip on their shoulder.

Now a study has found that they might, in fact, have an unhealthy attitude to life.

Short men and women apparently complain of poorer mental and physical health than those of an average height.

Researchers examined more than 14,000 responses to the 2003 Health Survey for England.

The subjects had given details of their height, weight, age, gender, long-standing illness and social class.

They were then asked to rate their health on a range of indicators such as mobility, pain and depression.

Those in the shortest height category - men shorter than 5ft 4in and women shorter than 5ft - reported much poorer health, according to the report in the journal Clinical Endocrinology.

The survey did not ascertain how healthy they actually were, just how well they thought they were.

Lead researcher Dr Torsten Christensen said: "Using this large and nationally representative sample of the UK population, we found shorter people report that they experience lower physical and mental well-being than taller people do.

"Our results also indicate that the shorter someone is, the stronger this relationship becomes."

She added that an increase in height of one inch would have a positive impact on the healthrelated quality of life of a short person, whereas the effect of an extra inch would be negligible for a person of normal height.

Dr Christensen found that short people would have a 6 per cent higher health rating if they were around three inches taller.

This is the equivalent to the health benefit experienced by an obese person losing two and a half stones.

Dr Christensen, of Danish healthcare company Novo Nordisk, added: "We know that people who are short experience more difficulties in areas of their life such as education, employment and relationships than people of a normal height.

"Although our study does not show that short height directly causes a reduction in physical and mental health, it does indicate that short people are more likely to feel that they experience a lower healthrelated quality of life."

She added: "Further research is now needed to clarify the precise relationship between changes in height and health-related quality of life."

Short height in adult life can either be due to normal development or can be caused by a number of diseases such as growth hormone deficiency and Turner syndrome.

Treatment with growth hormone for children with these conditions can increase their final height by as much as four inches.

The study shows that these height increases could have a huge positive effect on a person's mental wellbeing once they grow up.

Well, there you have it people. The solution to heightism is to be taller. So I suppose the solution to racism is to be caucasion; solution to sexism is to be male; solution to weightism is to be skinny; solution to extreme tall heightism is to be average height; solution to gay prejudice is to be straight; solution to religous discrimination is to worship whatever religion is norm....etc. etc.

T-shirts of our own.

Show your support for NOSSA, National Organization Of Short Statured Adults by purchasing one of our t-shirts at http://www.cafepress.com/nossa Be proud of who you are and show everyone that you support your fellow short statured brothers and sisters. Proceeds go directly towards the fight against heightism.

NOSSA Calls For Boycott Of Zazzle.com

The National Organization Of Short Statured Adults is encouraging people to both boycott the website www.zazzle.com and also for everyone to send a letter of complaint regarding the following T-shirt at http://www.zazzle.com/short_men_suck_shirt-235262457846832634

Contact Zazzle.com at:

Zazzle.com
1900 Seaport Blvd. 4th floor Redwood City, CA 94063

Telephone: Toll-Free - 1-800-980-9890.
or 650-872-8000

email: domains@zazzle.com

Zazzle.com refuses to remove heightist T-shirt

The owners of zazzle.com have refused to remove a heightist t-shirt from their website despite repeated requests from numerous people who filed complaints with the website. zazzle.com has removed all of the negative comments from the website displaying the shirt in an attempt to silence the protest. We encourage everyone who reads this to contact zazzle.com and express your outrage directly. http://www.zazzle.com/short_men_suck_shirt-235262457846832634 Contact: Zazzle.com 1900 Seaport Blvd. 4th floor Rewood City, CA 94063 (phone) 650-872-8000 (email) domains@zazzle.com

NOSSA To Appear On NPR

NOSSA Vice-President Chris Hamre will be a guest on National Public Radio. Chris will be discussing the issue of heightism. For the latest news on air dates visit http://nossaonline.org/news.html