Celebrating the Life and Legacy of NAAFA Founder Bill Fabrey
I am so surprised that I have yet to see anyone highlight the life of NAAFA's founder and the father of organized fat activism, Bill Fabrey, who passed away in his sleep last week on January 10th. He was 84 years old. As a fat activist, Bill has been one of my biggest inspirations and I wish I could have thanked him for his monumental contributions to fat liberation.
From NAAFA: "In the late 1960’s, Bill began to organize a group to change the way fat people are perceived and to advocate for better treatment for those living in fat bodies. He was motivated by his love for his then-wife, Joyce, who joined him and a handful of others at the first NAAFA meeting in June of 1969. Those in attendance voted to designate Bill the official founder of the organization, then known as the National Association to Aid Fat Americans. Today, NAAFA is known as the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance and is recognized as the world’s first-documented fat rights organization. Bill served NAAFA as a national leader, board member, and spokesperson for over 30 years. In 1991, Bill co-founded the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination. He later served on the Board of Directors of the Association for Size Diversity and Health (ASDAH). Bill served each of these organizations as a volunteer, supporting himself and his family through his day job as an engineer. In 1988, Bill co-founded Amplestuff with his then-wife Nancy Summer. Amplestuff was a unique mail order business providing accessibility items for people living in larger bodies. Bill operated Amplestuff for nearly 37 years. Bill remained an advocate for size acceptance and fat liberation throughout his life, mentoring generations of activists, scholars, and others in fat community and beyond."
I would like to add a fact about Bill that I hope never gets erased, because it is so important to me. Bill Fabrey self identified as a fat admirer. In fact, he was the first to coin the term, and it is still widely used by the FA community to this day. Bill had always been outspoken about his preference for fat bodies, was outraged by the attitudes of those around him and the backlash he faced for expressing it in the 50s and 60s, and talked about the impact it had on his allyship - how having positive feelings towards fatness and having close relationships with fat folks is what drove him to make a difference, because it made him acutely aware of systemic anti-fatness as a thin man.
Bill often told the story that in 1968 he was looking for a birthday present for his wife Joyce, and he could only find one shirt in her size in his entire town. He became intimately familiar with the discrimination she faced as a fat woman and thought that a national organization for fat acceptance could help change that. In his words, "Once I had that idea, it would have been unconscionable if I had done nothing about it!" After founding NAAFA, Bill faced public mockery and lost the support of his friends and family, so he surrounded himself with community and fat positive friends who shared his vision. I have complied many stories about Bill and the founding of NAAFA that I plan to include in my next article detailing the origins of fat liberation.
In the early days of NAAFA, they offered singles meetups so that fat folks could meet others who appreciated their bodies. Bill once said, "We found that the need for social interaction with others who don't disapprove of your body was so powerful that we could not attract members without offering it, so NAAFA-Date was born." I can't imagine how meaningful a space that must have been in the early 1970s. For any feedists who may be reading, here's a little-known fact: Dimensions Magazine actually came from these meetings! Dimensions used to be a subgroup of NAAFA called the Fat Admirer Special Interest Group (FA-SIG). Today, NAAFA seems to shy away from this part of their history because of the stigma that exists around feedism and attraction in relation to fatness. Bill Fabrey undoubtedly left an impact on both fat activist and fat kink communities and because of him, the two began hand-in-hand. I hope that his legacy serves as a reminder that there is no fat liberation without fat admiration.
More from NAAFA: Contributions in honor of Bill Bill’s estate has designated NAAFA as the “in lieu of flowers” charitable organization to receive donations in Bill’s memory. We are honored by this designation. Please use the “In Memory Of” field on our giving page to indicate that your gift is dedicated to Bill. Make a donation to NAAFA in memory of Bill Fabrey If you want to give to Bill’s family for end-of-life and other legacy needs, those contributions can be made to this GoFundMe established by Friends of Bill Fabrey. About Memorial Services for Bill Bill’s family and loved ones will host an in-person memorial service near his home in New York later this spring. We will share details as they become available, according to his loved one’s wishes. NAAFA will also host a virtual memorial service for Bill later this year (date to be determined). Information will be shared via our email list and social media. Messages and cards Those wishing to leave messages about Bill’s impact and influence may do so at naafa.org/billfabrey. Cards may be sent to ATTN Bill Fabrey Memorial ℅ NAAFA, PO Box 61586, Las Vegas, NV 89160. Bill’s ephemera and files will be archived at Cornell University. NAAFA will coordinate such donations. If you have items other than cards and messages, please use the form at naafa.org/billfabrey to inform us about what you have. We thank Barbara Altman Bruno for arranging this archival home. Bill in his own words Last September, our Executive Director, Tigress Osborn, asked Bill what he most wanted people to remember about the work he did. “Oh, gosh!” he said. “[I would want people to know] that it was motivated by the right reasons— to help your fellow man. Or woman! I was never motivated by making money or meeting the ‘right people’...it’s been an interesting life, and I can’t imagine any other at this point.” We can’t imagine fat activism without you, Bill. Thank you for everything you gave to NAAFA and to the world. In solidarity, Team NAAFA
