Every day is Fat Beach Day, according to Jordan Underwood.
But the New York City-based plus-size model, artist, and self-described “fat activist” is hosting a special “Fat Beach Day” at Jacob Riis beach on Saturday, June 22.
“We’re inviting all the tristate area fat baddies to come celebrate pride and make community with one another at my favorite beach, a historic queer beach in Queens,” Underwood said.
Fat Beach Day was founded by plus-size model, artist, and self-described “fat activist” Jordan Underwood.
The beach at Riis, which is often called “The People’s Beach,” has a rich, decadeslong history as an early gathering point for gay men and then other LGBTQ+ people.
“The importance of a beach day or pool party is to build a space where fat people are going to be there in our bikinis and our bathing suits, with our bodies out,” Underwood said. “That’s not always something that fat people are made to feel comfortable doing.”
Underwood, who uses they/he pronouns, said they had attended such beach days and pool parties over the years but had never hosted one before. They said they felt it was especially important to create this space at Riis beach specifically, in the context of a current “thin is in” trend in the Ozempic age.
“There’s a lot of intense marketing and messaging telling fat people that our bodies are wrong, and a lot of feelings are happening for a lot of people,” they said. “Riis has always been a space where people of all sizes are welcomed and appreciated.”
The fat acceptance movement also has origins in New York City, where 1960s activists held a Central Park “fat-in,” burning posters of the waifish model Twiggy, and where the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance was founded in 1969.
Underwood is co-hosting the event with Berriez, a plus-size Brooklyn clothing store. They said the community had just fundraised to have a wheelchair mat at the beach, making the event accessible as well.
Underwood hasn’t hit the beach yet this season, despite a recent string of hot days in the city.
It’s always hard to tell if a hot day in town is going to be a cool windy one in the Rockaways, they said.
“My friends are always like let’s go! And I’m like y’all, it’s gonna be literally 70 there, I’m not going to the beach if I can’t get in the water,” Underwood said.
“June 22 will be safely hot though,” they said.
Fat Beach Day takes place at the eastern edge of Jacob Riis beach from 11 a.m. until late on Saturday, June 22. It’s free and no reservations are required.
