Thread by @broadwaybabyto

When it comes to mask bans - your political affiliation shouldn’t matter. These bans are a serious violation of bodily autonomy. We are STILL in a pandemic. Criminalizing masking WILL kill & disable people.

🧵 on Nassau County decision & why you should care /1

I’ve said it before & I will say it again - mask mandates and mask bans are VERY different things. These bans have support in large part because people are still angry at being forced to wear a mask during the early days of the COVID pandemic. /2

I will agree that mask mandates weren’t handled terribly well - but they were done with the intention of saving lives & were ALWAYS temporary. They were loosely enforced & you couldn’t be arrested for not masking. You could be asked to leave a space & arrested for refusal /3

The mask ban in Nassau County allows people to be arrested for the CRIME of masking in public. They won’t necessarily be given the opportunity to leave a space. Wearing a medical device to protect your health will be punishable with $1000 fine and possible imprisonment /4

This is wrong on every level. These bans are not being enacted to protect anyone’s health. They’re not being done with intention of saving lives. They WILL further isolate disabled & high risk individuals from society & put marginalized ppl at high risk for police profiling /5

If mandates angered you because you thought they were fascist - these bans should infuriate you. The police have been given the right to determine who does & doesn’t have a valid medical exemption. They can arrest you for simply trying to avoid infection while out in public. /6

We can speculate all day as to the real reasons behind these bans - but one thing is glaringly clear - none of them are for the public good. There is no question that these bans WILL cost people their lives. Whether by forced infection or escalating brutality against maskers. /7

If you’re in support of these bans - please ask yourself why. If it’s that you want to “punish” disabled & high risk individuals for being the reason you had to mask… get over it. Lives are at stake. Police & government overreach won’t stop with disabled people. Help us. /8

A person wearing a medical mask in public is NO threat to anyone else. They’re arguably the safest person in the space. So why might a government be interested in making it illegal for them to protect themselves? /9

It’s likely a combination of masking interfering with facial recognition and surveillance (something which should concern everyone), pandering to their political base who loathe masking in all forms & a desire to keep propagating the lie that Covid is over. /10

Masks remind people of the pandemic. They push people out of their denial bubble - even if only for an instant - and the powers that be don’t want that. They’ve got a vested interest in keeping people out shopping, spending & spreading disease. /11

If more people truly understood the harm Covid poses to their long term health - they would rise up and demand more from their governments. They would want clean air, tests, treatments & masks in healthcare. The ruling class doesn’t want that to happen because it costs money /12

If some people “fall by the wayside” in the meantime - they don’t care. We are ALL expendable. Please read that again. We are ALL expendable. This isn’t “just” about disabled & vulnerable people. The sooner you realize that & join us - the better off we will all be. /13

My heart is heavy today. For everyone living in Nassau County and across the U.S. who have to fear for their personal safety in the face of these ugly laws. And they ARE ugly laws. It’s time to speak out before these bans spread to more counties & states. /14

One of the best ways you can send a message is by wearing a mask. If more people mask - it’ll be harder to drum up support to ban them. You can contact lawmakers & inform them you oppose these bans. Tell them you won’t travel anywhere with ugly laws on the books. /15

I don’t know what happens next - but I’m imploring people to stop acting like this is a justified and proportional response to mask mandates. It simply isn’t. We need more people on ALL sides of the political divide speaking out before it’s too late. /end