Last week, we shared Weight Stigma Awareness posts to address one of the many ways discrimination impacts the treatment of eating disorders. While we support this social media movement wholeheartedly, we cannot say the same for the organization behind it.
As a Health At Every Size aligned practice that continuously seeks to understand the intersection of social justice and eating disorders so that we can better serve all clients, we are troubled by NEDA’s decision to fire Chevese Turner. She played a critical role in creating a more inclusive organization, and without advocates like her on board, those who are most marginalized in the eating disorder community will suffer. As the original founder of Weight Stigma Awareness Week and the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA), which merged with NEDA in 2018, Chevese helped the organization serve the population with the most common and yet least represented eating disorder.
If NEDA is to truly be at the helm of eating disorder advocacy in this country, they must commit to hiring, listening to, serving and fighting for individuals of all races, sizes, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Everyone deserves equal treatment and representation in the eating disorder community. That is non-negotiable.
