Should discriminating against someone for being fat be made a hate crime?

A group of campaigners have held a demonstration outside the Mayor of London's offices, calling for him to back legislation which would make discrimination against overweight people a hate crime, on a par with racism, ageism and religious discrimination.

Discussing the issue are two campaigners and members of the Size Acceptance Movement, Kathryn Szrodecki and Marsha Coupe. Both have suffered abuse as a result of their size. Kathryn has filmed a documentary in San Francisco looking at the laws in place to protect overweight people against abuse and prejudice, and is desperate to see these laws put in place in the UK.

Having been overweight for most of her adult life, Kathryn is no stranger to the stares, the sniggering and the cruel comments of strangers. She says: "You live with a general feeling of non-acceptance, of not fitting in, and being treated like an outcast."

Kathryn says: "In San Francisco, fat-ism is treated with the same contempt and punished in the same way as racism, ageism and religious discrimination. Laws have been passed so overweight people have equal rights." The legislation in San Francisco even governs the guidelines given to doctors as to how they should speak to their overweight patients.

Kathryn adds: "Making fatism a hate crime gives it the gravitas it deserves and allows an appropriate punishment to be enforced."

Yesterday’s demonstration outside the Mayor of London's office did not go quite to plan as the campaigners lacked the required permit. Kathryn says: "We will definitely be going back after we have all the paperwork we need." While demonstrating Kathryn took along her 'Yay Scales' , a set of modified scales that show the user a compliment instead of their weight. Kathryn says: "These went down a storm with the public!"

American-born Marsha has also learnt to deal with daily abuse because of her size. She says: "As an overweight person you get used to the daily stares and nasty comments of the general public. There is a huge hostility in the UK against fat people, much more so than in the USA, where I lived until 2005.”

In May 2008 Marsha was the victim of a brutal attack because of her size. Marsha was on the train, "reading the paper when suddenly I saw a woman began kicking the life out of me. She was kicking and punching and screaming in my face 'you filthy fat pig, you are disgusting.' She punched me in the eye and was hitting me round the head. Thankfully a man in the carriage pulled her off me, and I took a photo of her on my mobile phone while he held her. It was the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to me." Marsha's assailant was never caught.

Marsha says: "I am gutted that she was never bought to justice, I am angry that she was never called to account for her actions. If she had been caught, however, she would have been charged with assault, which would have landed her a fine and probably not much else. If, on the other hand, discrimination against overweight people was to be made a hate crime, such a vile attack would be punishable with a custodial sentence. It might make people think twice about their actions."

The Home Office says: "Police and Prosecutors have agreed a common definition of hate crime, which includes disability; race; religion and belief; sexual orientation; and transgender. While obesity is not one of these, police can monitor and address these crimes if it is found to be an issue in their region."