An activist speaking at the recent Democratic Socialists of America-backed Socialism 2026 conference in Chicago declared that GLP-1 drugs are "fascist" and contribute to the "genocide" of fat people. Da’Shaun L. Harrison, a self-described "ungendered" author and "trans theorist," stated that the conditions necessitating these drugs are shaped by a world focused on marginalizing fat individuals.
GLP-1 medications, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, are primarily used for diabetes treatment and have also shown benefits in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke in certain high-risk patients. Harrison argued that these drugs exist to uphold a social order that surveils, restricts, and punishes fat people, describing this as "body fascism."
"Every time a government decides whose bodies must be protected and whose bodies must be erased for the sake of national imagery, this is body fascism," Harrison said. Harrison, author of "Belly of the Beast: The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness," was a speaker on the "Health Fascism, Body Politics, and the Anti-State State" panel.
Another panelist, Beatrice Adler-Bolton, who co-authored "Health Communism," suggested that a more "dysgenic" society, one where genetic traits might worsen over generations, would be preferable. Adler-Bolton also referenced figures from resistance movements, like Hamas founder Ahmed Yassin, as examples of "debilitated revolutionaries" whose imperfect bodies pose a threat to established power structures.
These remarks have been interpreted by some observers as part of a broader ideological effort to challenge conventional societal norms and institutions. Stu Smith, an investigative analyst at the Manhattan Institute, commented that such viewpoints represent an extreme rejection of the status quo, leading to the condemnation of medical advancements.
Harrison and Adler-Bolton did not respond to requests for comment. The Socialism 2026 conference drew over 3,000 attendees.