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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie delivers remarks and answers questions at the Brookings Institution, a non-partisan, public policy think tank, July 9, 2012 in Washington, DC.

Are they born that way? Is it a lifestyle choice?

These are common questions surrounding the cultural acceptance of homosexuality, an acceptance that has evolved significantly in the last half-century. But they also apply to another cultural phenomenon that touches us all: The obesity epidemic.

With the appearance — and ridicule — of obese New Jersey Governor Chris Christie at the GOP Convention this week, the obesity question is now front and center: Do we as a society accept people as obese? Do we wish to enact laws — societal priorities — to “cure” the obese as was once thought acceptable for homosexuals?

WEIGH IN:

Would we ever accept an obese person as a national leader, a position that has required a telegenic/photogenic aesthetic since the dawn of mass media.?

Guests:

Professor Paul Campos, law professor, author and journalist currently on the faculty of the University of Colorado in Boulder. Wrote the Salon.com piece comparing anti-obesity attitudes with now-dismissed, decades-old attitudes about homosexuality as a condition to be cured.

James Rainey, LA Times Reporter, who recently wrote about Governor Chris Christie’s girth.