Due to our cultural fixation with “clean eating”, we often praise folks grappling with life-threatening eating disorders for their “discipline” and commitment to wellness. In this latest blog post, Jason Wood boldly shares his struggles with orthorexia and his difficulty finding treatment as a male with an illness completely unrecognized by his clinicians. He furthermore details how the shame he felt as a gay man directly translated into feeling a need to suppress his pain and appear more “masculine”. We are so grateful to Jason for sharing his powerful story.

In recent years, the body positivity movement has achieved great prominence, with many regarding it as a means of promoting self-love and hence minimizing its social justice roots. As Project HEAL Ambassador Grace Bragdon illustrates, the co-opting of body positivity by thin folks epitomizes a deeply problematic trend in which those with certain privileges capitalize on movements established by and for individuals with marginalized identities. We are reminded that what many deem “body positivity” is virulent anti-fatness, just glamorously concealed and repackaged.

Project HEAL is hosting a Pride Week on Instagram Live! We’ll be joined by 8 magical individuals for 7 incredible conversations amplifying the LGBTQ+ voices in the eating disorder community. Each Live is a fundraiser for our LGBTQ+ Treatment Equity Project. We hope you’ll tune in!