Mask bans are ableist, discriminatory ugly laws.

Disabled advocates have been warning for years that if people didn’t help normalize masking, bans would follow

Please call legislators in New York and tell them No mask bans!

Medical exemptions aren’t enough, everyone needs the legal right to mask

The police are not doctors. They can’t determine who’s “sick enough” to wear a mask.

Many people with invisible illnesses struggle to get healthcare workers to take us seriously. We don’t want to be questioned by police.

Everyone should be allowed to mask up to prevent covid.

New York Governor Hochul is trying to sneak a mask ban into the budget, despite the opposition of many disabled & high risk people who NEED masks to safely access public spaces.

Criminalizing masks during an airborne pandemic, while measles is on the rise, is dangerous, ableist & eugenicist.

Call and email elected officials and tell them you oppose mask bans and that medical exemptions are NOT sufficient

https://gothamist.com/news/gov-hochul-is-pushing-a-last-minute-subway-mask-ban-in-state-budget-talks

Covid is not over and masks are one of our best tools to avoid infection. Mask bans are ableist, discriminatory and would mark a return to ugly laws.

Anyone willing to shove someone in front of a train is not going to reconsider just because their mask is illegal.

Ritchie says “Wearing a mask for the purpose of committing crimes against innocent New Yorkers or for the purpose of intimidating & harassing Jewish students on college campuses should be prohibited by state law”

Who decides that? The police? People masking for health get caught in the crossfire

A criminal is not going to avoid committing a crime just because there’s an extra charge if they wear a mask while doing it.

Whereas disabled people will feel pushed out of public spaces due to the legitimate fear of being harassed, stopped or arrested for wearing a mask

People who drum up support for mask bans by talking about violent criminals and “pre covid bans” are ignoring many salient points:

- most criminals aren’t wearing a respirator
- sunglasses obscure identity better than masks
- pre covid no one CARED if you wore a medical mask
- they care now

People are so angry about mask mandates that they regularly lash out at maskers. They cough on us, spit at us and scream profanity & threats.

Painting maskers as criminals or “lunatics” (did not appreciate Ritchie’s sanest language) only encourages this behaviour.

It emboldens them.

Medical exemptions aren’t enough. They leave too many people behind.

Mask bans tell us that there’s something inherently wrong with protecting oneself from covid. They send a strong message that the pandemic is over. They WILL cost lives.

If you stopped masking - please start again now. If more of us masked it would help normalize them as a public health tool.

Solidarity and representation make it harder to pass mask bans.

Call or email your elected officials and tell them you don’t support these ugly laws 1/3

My latest article is about the shooting of CEO Brian Thompson and how NYC Mayor Adams seems poised to use it as an excuse to bring in a ban on masks (which he’s wanted to do for awhile).

Mask bans are discriminatory, ableist and put lives at risk.

We are still IN an airborne pandemic. Everyone - whether disabled or not - should have the legal right to protect themselves from infection.

People need masks for all kinds of reasons. Pollution, wildfire smoke, allergies AND Covid. No one should be forced to risk their health because a necessary medical device has been criminalized for absolutely no reason.

Make no mistake - these bans won’t stop crime. Studies have shown that sunglasses obscure identity more effectively.

The only reason to ban masks is to pander to those on the right still angry about mask mandates - and to make it easier for the government to surveil its citizens.

Ironically those who screamed the loudest about freedom and bodily autonomy during mask mandates are eerily quiet about mask bans - despite the fact that they represent escalating fascism and government overreach.

We really are on our own.

Please - mask up. Do it in solidarity with disabled people who NEED masks in order to safely access public spaces. Do it to support the Covid aware people who just want to avoid infection. Do it to send a message to the government that you don’t believe anyone is expendable. Do it to protect our right to mask in the future.

It’s not too late - but we must get loud, work fast and wear our masks.

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/nyc-mayor-wants-to-ban-masks-in-the