What do YOU stand for?

Deepest thanks to the fabulous Marilyn Wann, who created the "I Stand for" project in response to Georgia's shameful Strong4Life campaign. I'm proud to be one of the many, many people who stand for something besides weight bigotry, shame, and stigma.

You can see the whole series on Marilyn's tumbler and facebook pages. They're a pretty inspiring bunch. If you'd like to participate, send your photo and "I Stand for" statement to Marilyn at marilyn@fatso.com.

This makes the Georgia campaign even more manipulative

According to a story today in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, the heavy children shown in the state of Georgia's shaming, shameful Strong4Life campaign are child actors hired to pretend they have hypertension, no friends, and other negative qualities the ads associate with childhood obesity.

Because . . . they couldn't find any fat children with those conditions who were willing to model for their ads?

Maybe. Maybe not. Here I was worrying about how starring in an ad like this would affect a child like "Jaden" or "Maritza." It turns out there is no "Maritza," or rather, "Maritza" is actually a healthy 11-year-old girl named Chloe who does not have hypertension, or any major health issues.

So it turns out that not only is this so-called public health campaign manipulative and shaming, it's also a big lie. A big FAT lie.

Stop lying, Georgia. Really.