When is discriminating OK?

This is a copy of a letter I sent to the Chronicle-Herald that was published in their April 30th 2016 edition.  The original article should be viewable HERE.  To summarize, Mr. Lukacs is arguing that when obese patients are bumped to a later flight, moved to another seat, or asked to buy an extra seat, this constitutes unfair “discrimination”.

Here are my thoughts:

Normally, it doesn’t take me long to agree with Gabor Lukacs in his ongoing efforts to get fair treatment for passengers from the airlines who serve them.

However, I think his latest foray (April 26) is misguided and simplistic. He suggests airlines are being discriminatory by asking obese passengers to do such things as “move to another seat, take a later flight, or buy an additional seat.” He compares discriminating based on size to discriminating based on sexual orientation.

This misses the central issue. Another passenger is not inconvenienced by having their physical space restricted because the person sitting next to them is gay or transgendered. Unless they are a closed-minded bigot (in which case it’s their own problem), it makes no difference to their flight whether the person sitting next to them is gay or straight. But when part of the chair space that you have paid for is being taken up by the passenger who has only paid for the seat next to you, this becomes unfair to the non-obese passenger.

As a tall person, I often spend extra money to buy an extralegroom seat. In a normal seat I often end up sitting askew, or having my knees crunched when the passenger in front of me decides to suddenly recline. I have much less control over my height than an obese person does about their weight. Am I being discriminated against? Avoiding the thorny issue of blame for being overweight, it still must be realized that obese passengers make the flight more uncomfortable for their seatmates. I have experienced this first hand and have to say I felt it was unfair that I paid for a full seat and only got two-thirds of one — and arrived at my destination with a stiff and sore lower back from sitting crookedly for three hours.

People with obesity issues face certain consequences: higher levels of diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, etc. One consequence is they sometimes face difficulties flying, when they are moved or rescheduled to avoid inconveniencing others. I don’t dislike obese people, and don’t advocate “discriminating” against them. But their rights end where others’ rights start — at the edge of their own seat.

When is discriminating OK?  When it is necessary to protect others from being unfairly treated.