As more States propose mask bans, I want to take a moment to discuss claims that it’s “fear mongering” to say that masking is illegal.

People claim the medical exemption is “good enough”.

This ignores three critical points. Public perception, anti mask sentiment and rampant ableism

First things first, mask bans make masking a criminal offence. They make the act of wearing a mask illegal.

Sure there may be medical exemptions, but they’re incredibly problematic.

Lawmakers specifically chose not to exempt medical masks and respirators. The burden is on the wearer

Second, public perception around masking is very different now than it was before Covid.

People are irrationally angry when they see a mask. They’ve been politicized and folks have created an identity in their minds about who a masker is. A liberal. A sheep. Someone who’s anti-freedom.

None of their preconceived notions are based in fact or reality, but they fuel the anger and rage that gets directed at maskers every day.

When you enact a mask ban, you embolden these people. They aren’t reading the bills and considering medical exemptions.

They just hear they’re banned.

As a result they think they can demand you remove your mask. They may call the police on you. They will certainly feel justified in judging and targeting maskers and declaring that they’re doing “something wrong”.

This emboldening creates a dangerous situation that could easily lead to violence

This is why we must discuss anti mask sentiment when talking about mask bans.

Many disabled people masked before covid. I was one of them. The worst I ever got was a strange look or someone moving far away from me on transit

Since mask mandates ended I’ve been coughed on, spit at and yelled at

People view masks as bad and loathe anyone who’s still wearing them.

When you publicly enact a mask ban, you’re telling those people they’re right. That it’s ok to harass people for masking. That it’s wrong to wear a mask and protect your health.

You’re increasing the hostility.

Finally there’s the issue of ableism. Mask bans make public spaces less accessible. Period.

For many of us a good mask is the only reason we can be out in public. If you make it a crime, we risk being stopped by the police and forced to justify our disabilities.

Many of us have a difficult time getting healthcare workers to take us seriously, but we’re supposed to assume law enforcement will believe we’re masking for the right reasons?

That’s a risk we should never be forced to take. The interaction alone would negatively impact our baseline

Lastly… any reason for wearing a mask should be good enough.

We are still in a global pandemic. Millions are dead, even more are disabled. People are still dying every week.

Wearing a mask to protect yourself - whether disabled or not - is a smart and caring choice

The idea that someone should be forced to justify that choice or risk arrest is patently absurd.

Which is why mask bans are wrong.

The best way to fight these bans is to mask up. The more people wearing masks, the harder they will be to ban.

You can also call and email your local lawmakers and tell them you strongly oppose bans which make a medical mask illegal.

Please don’t wait until someone is assaulted or arrested just for wearing a medical device. Help us fight these bans now.

I’ve written extensively about mask bans, if you want a full length piece about why medical exemptions are not the answer, please read my article on Nassau County

Exemptions leave many people behind. They put undue burden on disabled individuals. They increase risk of profiling marginalized people

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/nassau-county-ny-makes-masking-illegal

The War on #Masks Has Taken on a New Meaning

This time, the masks have nothing to do with #COVID19.

By Henry Grabar
Feb 05, 20254:57 PM

"Last month, state legislators in New York introduced a bill that would create a new crime: 'masked harassment.'

"That, the law explains, is when you wear a mask 'for the primary purpose of menacing or threatening violence against another person' or 'placing another person or group of persons in reasonable fear for their physical safety.'

"If that seems like a bit of a niche offense—threatening violence is already a crime, after all—it’s because the language has been watered down to attract political support. It’s a sign of New York Democrats’ cautious new approach over masks in public life, and a retreat from last spring, when anti-Israel protests, on top of a widespread urban crime panic, pushed leaders from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to consider mask bans.

"In its original form, the New York bill would have banned masks at public assemblies entirely. But the outcry from #DisabilityRights advocates, #CriminalJustice reformers, #HealthCareWorkers, and #CivilLiberties groups was swift, and so New York wound up with this bill on 'masked harassment' instead.

"Elsewhere, the pandemic-era leniency on masking in public is over. #NorthCarolina Republicans overrode a gubernatorial veto last summer to once again #BanPublicFaceCoverings, except to stop the spread of contagious diseases. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost dusted off an old law to threaten #StudentProtesters with #felonies. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has asked the state’s Senate to consider a bill to #unmask #protesters this year.

"For Republicans, it’s a chance to kill two birds with one stone. They can strike back against the perceived overreach of pandemic-era #HealthDirectives and make it easier to arrest #demonstrators at the same time.

"In #Ohio and North Carolina, the original statutes were written in the 1950s to stop demonstrations by the #KuKluxKlan, but had been ignored or suspended during the #pandemic and the #GeorgeFloydProtests. Many lawmakers have cited the recent demonstrations in defense of #Gaza as a reason to crack down again. Defending the proposed mask ban in New York, Anti-Defamation League [#ADL] president Jonathan Greenblatt said the demonstrators were using '#KKK tactics' to intimidate Jewish New Yorkers.

"That instinct was bolstered by the sense among many city residents and elected leaders that widespread masking was a factor behind the pandemic-era crime spike. That led to #Philadelphia banning #SkiMasks in parks, on trains, and in public buildings. A more recent, high-profile example came in December with the Midtown Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO #BrianThompson by a #MaskedAssassin, which prompted New York Mayor Eric Adams to call for cab drivers and business owners to ask customers to remove their masks. The new New York bill has won over the liberal Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who endorsed the 'tailored' approach. As the police say: #NoFaceNoCase.

"For what it’s worth, there are too many confounding variables and too little data to be sure if mask-wearing is associated with crime, said Ernesto Lopez at the Council for Criminal Justice, which collects crime reporting statistics from various cities. 'From a theoretical statement it makes sense that could occur, but it has not been demonstrated that’s the case,' he told me.

"But if all that weighed in favor of more mask bans, there was also widespread resistance. Disability advocates mobilized to defend the right to mask; North Carolina had to write a medical exemption into their bill at the insistence of a GOP House member. #PoliceReformers observed that #MaskBans have often been used for pretextual #policing and racial profiling against #BlackAmericans. (#AtlantaGeorgia tabled a mask ban for that reason.)

"What looms largest, as the second Trump administration begins, is the role of protest. As Semafor’s Dave Weigel has noted, masks have become a badge of left-wing protest culture. That’s in part an extension of politicized COVID-era concerns about health and civility, but at this point it is mostly a tactic to preserve anonymity in an era of #FacialRecognition, streaming video, and #doxing. Last year, the anonymous #ProIsrael website the #CanaryMission posted photographs of hundreds of students and faculty at campus protests and posted their names and photos online, labeling some as supporters of terrorism.

"'The concern takes on new urgency as Donald Trump pledges to revoke the visas of pro-Palestine protesters, and the Trump-Musk GOP embraces the naming and shaming of otherwise private citizens. A conservative group called the American Accountability Foundation has begun circulating lists of federal workers, many of them Black, who should be
'targets' for their alleged involvement in #DEI initiatives at work.

"Clearly, the masked protest does not always sit well with an older generation, many of whom cut their teeth in the protests of the pre-internet age. As Georgetown professor Michael Kazin told the New York Times last year: 'I do think if you are going to demonstrate, and it’s something you feel deeply about, you should be willing to stand up and be counted.'"

Source:
https://slate.com/business/2025/02/mask-bans-new-york-los-angeles-crime-protests-criminalize-face-coverings.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#Fascism #AuthoritarianRule #BigBrother #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #SurveillanceState #SilencingDissent