#North Carolina mask bill

[hazelbutterflies]

House Bill 237 Rapid Response Info Sheet (5/24/2024) (link to this on Google docs)

(id: Simone Hetherington, a speaker during public comment, urges lawmakers not to pass the masking bill during the state Senate Rules Committee in the Legislative Building in Raleigh, N.C on May 15, 2024. She is wearing a gray sweater and standing in front of a brown podium and microphone, she has long brown hair and is wearing glasses and a white face mask with head straps.)

Update + Call to Action!

The House of Representatives did not concur with HB 237! Next, the bill will be going through the Conference Committee to be amended again. We still need to fight and let the members of the Conference Committee understand the implications of this bill. Please focus your calling and emailing to members of the Conference Committee, found in this document and the link here! We have scripts you can utilize to communicate with them!

Our goal is to contact legislators to 1) oppose HB 237 altogether and reject the criminalization of masking, 2) advocate for, at minimum, the inclusion of a health exemption!

So far, there are no Senate Conferees for this bill. We will update this sheet if they are added! We do not know when the Conference Committee plans on meeting but it is important to continue contacting them!

CALL + EMAIL THE FOLLOWING REPRESENTATIVE CONFEREES FOR HB 237 TO TELL THEM NO ON HB 237!

Scripts, talking points, and contacts can all be found below!

Step 1: Email NC Representative Conferees

Copy/Paste the email below and the contact list of the NC Representative Conferees. You can also use ncmegaphone.com to send these emails automatically!

Example Email/Letter

Hello Senator/Representative [Last name],

I am emailing today to express my opposition to the amendment to HB 237, also called the Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill, that was proposed on Tuesday, May 7th, 2024. I am a constituent of District [Number], living in [Town Name], North Carolina.

The proposed removal of the health and safety exemption ignores the ongoing pandemic, impinges on federal rights, and would have larger material consequences on the economy and our communities’ collective well-being.

As we speak, new COVID variants have emerged and are predicted to cause a wave of infections, disabilities, and death this summer. Thousands of people continue to be hospitalized, disabled, or killed by COVID-19 every day in this country and around the world. Health and safety professionals identify masking or the use of high-quality respirators as the best protection against airborne viruses and diseases. To remove the medical exemption in the midst of an ongoing risk to public health is irresponsible and endangering your constituents.

Earlier this year, Congress held its first hearing on Long COVID and the need for research and resources on this complex and often confusing illness. From the advocacy and testimony of doctors, frontline workers, and Long COVID patients themselves, there has been an international push to recognize Long COVID as a disability. Disabled Americans are protected under the American Disabilities Act to have access to accommodations necessary for thriving and survival. High-quality masks and respirators are medically necessary for those disabled by or at risk of being disabled by COVID-19 and other airborne viruses. To remove the health and safety exemption would be a violation of the federal rights of disabled and immunocompromised citizens.

The larger material consequences of this amendment to the bill on the state of North Carolina cannot be understated. Hospitals, schools, social services, and even restaurants and recreation spots are massively understaffed, underfunded, and overworked. This amendment to remove the health and safety exemption, essentially increasing the potential spread of sickness and disease, would put these already overextended aspects of our society and our economy into further disarray and strain.

I strongly urge you to consider these material consequences, but more importantly, your disabled and immunocompromised constituents by voting against any amendments to House Bill 237 that would further restrict masking as a necessary precaution.

NOTE: ADDITIONAL TALKING POINTS ARE LISTED AT THE END OF THIS DOCUMENT.

NC House Representative Conferee Emails

Erin.Pare@ncleg.gov

Sarah.Stevens@ncleg.gov

John.Torbett@ncleg.gov

Brian.Biggs@ncleg.gov

Step 2: Call the NC House Representative Conferees!

Rep. John Torbet (R), 704-263-9282

Rep. Brian Biggs (R), 919-733-5865

Rep. Sarah Stevens (R), 919-715-1883

Rep. Erin Paré (R), 919-733-2962

Phone Zap Script

Hello Senator/Representative [Last name],

I am a constituent of District [Number], living in [Town Name], North Carolina, and I am calling today to ask you to vote against the proposed amendment to House Bill 237 (the Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill). Removing the health and safety exemption for masking in public would harm my life and the lives of many other constituents. Thousands of people continue to be hospitalized, disabled, or killed by COVID-19 every day in this country and around the world. Removing masking as a protection would contribute to economic decline through overcrowding and understaffing of schools, hospitals, and businesses.

High-quality masks and respirators are medically necessary for those of us who are disabled and/or immunocompromised. This amendment would be a direct violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act which was created to protect and accommodate disabled citizens. People have the right to protect themselves from airborne contaminants. I strongly urge you to consider these material consequences, but more importantly, your disabled and immunocompromised constituents by voting against any amendments to House Bill 237 that would further restrict masking as a necessary precaution.

Additional Talking Points

Masking as ADA accommodations

Masking as a tool for survival; medically necessary like a wheelchair or other mobility and accessibility aids, glasses, hearing aid

When we criminalize masking we make it impossible for immunocompromised people to work, support the economy, be part of society

Collective Wellbeing & (What they Care About) The Economy

Collective impact on hospitals, school and work sick days. Will cause more people to miss work and school; cause delays in receiving crucial healthcare; deplete the labor force and damage the economy

Disconnecting from COVID, and focussing on masks as necessary for general health & wellness for many elderly and disabled people. (COVID is triggering potentially)

Ban as Impinging on Personal Freedom / Protections of 14th Amendment / Encouraging Profiling

It is not a functional or rational measure, it is like saying that because people wear shirts in one context then no one can wear shirts in any other setting; it impinges on our freedom

Mask wearing has been presented as a matter of personal choice and now we suddenly don’t have that choice, the choice is being made for us

People have different reasons for needing to cover their bodies (religious, physical, psychological) and they should have a right to do so. You cannot determine the reason that someone is covering their body just by looking at them; this ban could impinge on 14th amendment rights

This will disproportionately impact people who are already discrimination and biased treatment from law enforcement.

Lawful or unlawful behavior can’t be predicted by mask-wearing, nor can intent. Mask wearing is not inherently bad or harmful. It should remain a neutral choice

There is no legitimate link between medical mask wearing and the original intent of this law against racist hate groups; this is an outdated and a misguided use of previous legislation.

Ongoing Pandemic/Risks to Public Health and Safety

As we speak, new COVID variants have emerged and are predicted to cause a wave of infections, disabilities, and death this summer. To remove the medical exemption in the midst of an ongoing risk to public health is irresponsible and endangering your constituents.

Personal Connection

Having been disabled by COVID-19, I worry for others who could be disabled and also for what would happen if I were to get sick again; I could lose the ability to work and support myself or to participate in social life, be dependent on systems that can’t support me

Quick Facts

What is HB 237? What’s happening now?

HB 237, also known as the “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals Bill”, is a law that makes face coverings in public illegal. There are several exemptions, including an exemption for “health & safety reasons” that was passed in March 2023 to account for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, NC lawmakers are attempting to remove the health & safety exemption to retaliate against students holding Palestinian solidarity protests. The removal of this necessary exemption would further isolate disabled/immunocompromised people and create even more consequences for protesters who are arrested.

What is a phone or email zap?

Phone and email "zaps" are an easy and direct way of letting public officials and others know what you want them to do or to stop doing. It may involve voting on a particular bill, or actually implementing plans they have proposed but haven't acted upon. People in positions of power take such actions seriously. Politicians usually keep track of their pro and con calls on controversial issues. Phone and email zaps are particularly useful when you need to respond to something quickly. (ACT UP)

If you’d like to hear more about why this bill is bad please listen to this episode of death panel. Something the podcast highlights is that this is revenge on behalf of Republicans because Republicans hated that we cared about others and had mask mandates during 2020-2021. They also hate that we care about solidarity and we’re masking during protest against the genocide of Palestinians. It’s all connected.

[liminalweirdo]

mask bans are fascist

[video transcript:]

[Speaker pointing to face mask] "This is now illegal in North Carolina, Nassau County, New York, and the bills banning it are only spreading. If you care about COVID, Palestine, or surveillance, we need to talk about mask bans.

As protests continue against Israel's genocide on Palestinians, masks have become an important tool of cross movement solidarity, and while disabled organizes have popularized masking at actions to reduce the ongoing risks of COVID and Long COVID, protesters also use them to protect themselves from the doxxing, stalking, chemical irritants, and intense surveillance used by police and counter protesters alike. That's why some lawmakers are pushing to criminalize mask wearing or ban masks altogether. And while they claim that mask bans will "keep us safe", we know that more surveillance only puts us more at risk. In addition to mandating, we expose our faces to cops and cameras on demand.

These bills give police broad powers to harass mask wearers in public which will only ramp up violence against Black, Brown, queer, trans, and disabled people.

Plus, they threaten protesters with fines and jail time for gathering safely, guaranteeing a chilling effect on our First Amendment rights.

So whether you're a student facing repression on your campus, a data privacy nerd, or an activist fighting Long COVID, or racial profiling, mask bans are your fight.

The good news is it's not too late to stop the spread of these bills.

Go to stopmaskbans.com to sign the petition, and tell your representatives to oppose mask bans.

Remember, no one has the right to your face or your health on demand. Mask up and fight back.

[end transcript]

[chronicandironic]

id: the first image has a light blue background, the top text is blue and says together we can stop mask bans! Under that the text, we demand the right to protect ourselves & our communities from sickness and surveillance. under that it says long Covid Justice. The second image, is a tweet from Dr. Lucky Tran, text is his tweet saying That is zero evidence that mask bands prevent crime. The end goal of mask bans is the scare people away from exercising their first amendment rights to protest, and to give cops more power to target, black and brown communities.

a resource list on the mask bans that are going on right now.

quick links:

• For everyone, NY & beyond: Contact NY elected officials and tourism offices by phone, email, or mail: covidadvocacyny.org/stopmaskbanny

• NYers only: Contact NY elected officials by text: Text SIGNPLNHSQ to 50409

• Use #NoNYMaskBan to share why you still wear a mask, share masked photos

ACT UP NY’s social media posts

COVID Advocacy NY’s action toolkit

Joint statement – Mask Bloc NYC & Artists in Resistance (A.I.R.) NYC

Action Toolkit & Letter Campaign (write your reps!) – Mask Together America

Jews for Mask Rights – Open Letter

No Mask Bans from Peoples CDC

Masks Are a Symbol of Solidarity. Don’t Let Democrats Take Them Away– Beatrice Adler-Bolton & Artie Vierkant in The Nation

The Criminalization of Masking – NashMask4Mask & NourNashville

TIPS FOR ACTION & ADVOCACY

Tips on calling your reps from Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Direct action toolkit with accessibility notes

Masks work!

Mask resource page – Peoples CDC

Articles on mask effectiveness (see “Masks Work!” section)

ARTICLES ABOUT MASK BANS

Masks are going from mandated to criminalized in some states

Los Angeles’s Mayor Was Contemplating a Mask Ban. She Just Got Covid.

GROUPS ORGANIZING AROUND MASK BANS:

U.S.

New York:

ACT UP NY

A.I.R. NYC

COVID Advocacy NY

Jews for Mask Rights

Mask Bloc NYC

California:

Los Angeles: bit.ly/StopMaskBansInLA

North Carolina:

Triangle Mask Bloc

Clean Air Club post on NC’s House Bill 27 and the criminalization of protests

Tennessee:

NashMask4Mask

Texas:

Clear the Air ATX

National & International:

Clean Air Club

COVID Conscious Coalition

Long COVID Justice (!)

Mask Together America

World Health Network

Find or create a group!

Mask Bloc worldwide directory

COVIDactionmap.org

COVID advocacy groups (US, Canada)

How to start a Mask Bloc

[covid-safer-hotties]

Key points you should know:

=Mainstream media coverage of mask bans has given space for politicians’ false claims that masks are associated with wrong-doing, like crime and antisemitism, while overlooking that bans are, in many ways, an effort to suppress the reality of COVID-19. =There are 21 states and numerous municipalities with laws against masks or disguises on the books. People who wear masks would benefit from knowing exactly how they are worded and any legal precedents, as police are often under-informed. =Both Republicans and Democrats are pushing more severe mask bans than ever before in history. Democrats are more likely to give lip service to health needs without offering meaningful protections. Masks can and will be criminalized by police regardless of the language of the law, as arrest trends follow social trends. Police are also permitted by the Supreme Court to make mistakes in enforcing laws.

On August 5, Nyss Fayrchyld traveled from New York City to Nassau County in Long Island with other organizers to testify against a local bill to ban masks. The next few hours were “traumatic” and “volatile,” they recalled, with supporters of the bill “yelling obscenities” at immunocompromised people who testified in masks, calling them ”pro-Hamas thugs and terrorists.”

Police also directed enforcement at people in masks. One masked attendee was arrested on several charges, including second-degree assault, a felony, facing up to nine years in prison. Fayrchyld insists that the person was de-escalating conflict, which seems corroborated by video evidence. Supporters of the ban were also given more time to speak.

Nassau County’s bill passed with a vote of twelve Republicans in favor and seven Democrats abstaining. The law includes a vague medical exemption but also gives police expansive powers to stop, unmask, and arrest people.

Fayrchyld witnessed the type of state-sanctioned hostility that has become increasingly common for people who wish to stay safe during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nassau County is just the latest jurisdiction to pass a mask ban, after North Carolina and Washington, D.C. early this year.

New anti-mask bills were also recently introduced in Chicago, the New York State legislature, and the federal House of Representatives, which proposes a sentence of up to 15 years. Leaders in New York City and Los Angeles have discussed possible future bans, and other states are enforcing pre-existing anti-mask laws on the books. The University of Virginia has banned masks on campus, unless the person can show documentation of medical need.

While mainstream media stories about mask bans often mention that immunocompromised people might be harmed, these stories also give unskeptical space to politicians’ claims that increased mask-wearing has contributed to all kinds of wrong-doing, from crime to antisemitism. In reality, mask-wearing is increasingly rare compared to early in the pandemic. There are countries with far less violence than the U.S. where wearing a mask is normalized. One analysis found no correlation between mask bans and crime rates. Many pro-Palestine protestors are masking explicitly to prevent spreading COVID-19.

Most media coverage fails to connect the new wave of mask bans to the ongoing political efforts to minimize COVID-19. Overblown concerns about facial recognition and protestors are only possible with a concurrent effort to downplay the threat of COVID-19 and erase signs of it from public life — now a priority for most mainstream politicians.

While the conversation around mask bans has focused on new laws and bills, 21 states and many municipalities have laws banning masks and/or disguises in different settings, which is more than other organizations have reported. Even where these bans have apparent limitations or exemptions, the finer language of the laws leaves all COVID-conscious people vulnerable. And the historic practices of police endanger people even in states with no legal bans.

“We have come so far downhill when it comes to protecting one another that [supporting mask-wearing] is a controversial opinion to have these days,” said disability activist and author Imani Barbarin. The political climate, she said, “creates this perfect storm where it’s going to further criminalize Black and Brown people who need masks to survive.”

The politics and propaganda of mask bans Historically, mask bans tend to come in waves. This current wave has been led by Republicans, with Democrats following closely behind. While Democrats tend to pay slightly more lip service to health needs, their actions undermine their promises.

The Republican effort to ban masks started before the COVID-19 pandemic, with a series of bills aimed at antifascist protestors. In 2011, Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested for wearing masks. Republican leaders reignited their efforts in early 2023, introducing bills that sought to end the COVID-19 era of masking altogether.

Republicans insist mask bans have been around for a long time. But their recent efforts go further in criminalizing masking than ever before. North Carolina’s new law requires members of the public to “remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer,” for any reason, for as long as police want. Previously, the state’s law limited this demand to traffic stops and when police believed someone was committing a crime.

The new provision “smacks of blatant authoritarianism,” said Corye Dunn, Director of Public Policy for Disability Rights North Carolina. North Carolina’s mask ban also adds a new provision requiring a person wearing a mask to “temporarily” remove it at the request of an “owner or occupant” of a “public or private property.”

“Occupant doesn’t mean anything” in state law, Dunn said. She’s concerned that this “dangerous” provision will “embolden bullies and set up people with disabilities to face hostility” from fellow citizens demanding mask removal.

Elaine Nell, who co-founded the group Advocates for Medically Fragile Kids NC, is “angry, sad, and scared” about how the law might be enforced when it takes effect in October, especially in public spaces: “You get jury duty [and you] may not be able to wear a mask.” Nell is also concerned about her medically vulnerable children, who already lead restricted lives. “This may just take away even more,” she said.

Meanwhile, the conservative Manhattan Institute for Policy Research recently proposed a mask ban template focused on protests that don’t include any health exemption. While the Institute doesn’t pretend that COVID-19 is over, the template outlines a grim scenario: “Someone who wears a mask for health reasons probably should not be congregating in large groups of people.”

This statement suggests that immunocompromised people shouldn’t have the right to protest, work, or exist in crowded spaces, harkening back to the “ugly laws” that once forbade disabled people from being in public.

Democrats in the New York legislature proposed a mask ban bill similar to the Manhattan Institute’s template, with a medical exemption that only applies during a “declared public health emergency.” On paper, the federal government ended the COVID-19 emergency in 2023.

Across the country, Democrats are proposing mask bans based on flimsy and inconsistent logic, often citing incidents in which the main aggressors weren’t even masked. New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a former police officer, might be the one Democratic leader willing to make the subtext clear. He has expressed the desire to “go back to the way it was pre-COVID” by banning masks on subways, in stores, and in “other areas where it is not health-related” — as if there are any locations where health is not an issue.

Adams articulated out loud the Biden administration’s consistent priority: to erase the signs of COVID-19, or, as the podcast Death Panel calls it, the “sociological production of the end of the pandemic.” This started in the spring of 2021 when the CDC proposed that vaccinated people no longer need masks. The administration has also steadily chipped away at COVID-19 data collection efforts.

Mask bans are the latest step towards that goal, further disincentivizing the public from wearing them for protection. Biden administration leaders have explicitly associated mask-wearing with unnecessary, humiliating, and “fringe” behavior. And Biden recently insisted that he “ended the pandemic,” just before he reportedly caught COVID-19. His administration has been able to erase almost all signs of COVID-19 besides the viral illness itself.

How police criminalize masking On August 22, Disability Rights New York filed a lawsuit challenging the Nassau County mask ban by invoking the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). But mask ban enforcement won’t rely on the determination of the courts alone. Political propaganda against masking is likely to influence how police criminalize masking, as arrest trends follow social trends more than laws.

Before COVID-19, mask bans were among the obscure laws rarely enforced by themselves, though police have long used face coverings, particularly ski masks, as a pretext to stop and search people. Elijah McClain was stopped by police in 2019 in large part for wearing a ski mask, or “looking suspicious,” and was killed while in custody. Yet Colorado has never had any kind of mask ban, giving police no justification for the stop.

Supreme Court decision Helen v. North Carolina (2014) allows police to be “reasonably mistaken” in their understanding of the laws they are hired to enforce. Police commonly arrest people for legal knives and other weapons due to poor training and bias. People may lose days, weeks, or months of income while in jail — and exposure to a deadly and disabling virus — before prosecutors or judges catch up to police mistakes.

It doesn’t help that anti-mask laws have always been ambiguously written, contributing to “reasonable” misunderstandings and decades of legal testing in the courts. New York’s proposed law would ban masking during “lawful or unlawful assembly or riot.” But “New York, unhelpfully, does not define a local assembly in law,” said Allie Bohm, Senior Policy Counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union of New York.

Bohm is concerned that D.C.’s new law — which outlaws masking while committing a crime or “threats to do bodily harm” — is “just giving police freedom to stop anyone in a mask,” even without justification. Similar laws exist in Arizona, California, Michigan, and many other states.

Bohm’s fears were confirmed by the D.C. law’s sponsor, Councilmember Brooke Pinto, who said the law was intended to give officers “a basis for a stop, for articulable suspicion.” D.C. police officers were sent a memo summarizing the new law without additional formal training, according to emails from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Bohm identified a fundamental legal problem with most mask bans: “We will always be in the position of law enforcement deciding whether the person in front of them is masking for a ‘legitimate’ reason.” Most anti-mask laws assume that police can properly judge “intent” and behavior despite studies showing that such judgment is colored by racial and other biases.

Dunn recalled one North Carolina legislator saying in a hearing, “Nobody is looking to go after ‘meemaw’ at the Walmart,” referring to an older woman. The statement explicitly identified the kinds of “selective enforcement” likely to happen around masking, Dunn said. She has coached the family of one North Carolina Black teenager, whose immune system is suppressed from leukemia treatments, on how to balance his health needs with staying safe during a police interaction — what she calls a “horrifying choice.”

What should people who wear masks do now? (Nadica suggests reading up on illegalism. sorry for interrupting.) Unfortunately, marginalized people might not be able to rely on all of the organizations that have historically fought for their rights. Both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in New York and the National Urban League support New York’s proposed anti-mask law.

People who wear masks should consider learning the finer details of the laws and precedents in their states and cities, given that police may not be well informed. Does your state require “intent to disguise” your identity for masking to be illegal, as in D.C.? Then you can cite the law and try to assure police that your intention is health-related.

Bohm advises people who wear masks in New York, if confronted by police, to state that they are worried about COVID-19 and ask if they can leave, as there is no current mask ban in effect. Dunn recommends North Carolinians invoke their desire to “prevent the spread of contagious disease,” citing the language of the new law’s very narrow medical exemption. Disclosing a medical condition might seem like a good strategy, but it’s worth keeping in mind police bias: half of people killed by police are disabled.

More broadly, activists need to build solidarity among all of the groups affected by mask bans, including disabled people, pro-Palestine protesters, religious minorities, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people. Some of the laws that ban disguises have been used against trans people.

Barbarin even thinks it would be smart to “hop on personal liberty” as a way to associate masking with American freedom, which she acknowledges is not “in vogue” on the left. The Klan has long been a plaintiff in lawsuits to end mask bans, and Proud Boys, a right-wing extremist group, often cover their faces.

In order to further broaden support against mask bans, the public needs to understand that COVID-19 is still a serious risk. Beyond that, the media needs to communicate that stopping legal bans — or adding medical exemptions — won’t be enough to protect people from police. It will take changing the political discourse around masking altogether.

[spoonienation]

The Far-Right – And Some Democrats – Are Criminalizing Masks.

We Must Act Now to Keep Each Other Safe.

Politicians across the US are pushing for mask bans. We all have a responsibility to fight this attack on our rights, our bodily autonomy, our privacy and our health. If you stopped masking, now is a good time to reengage with this practice in public spaces, and particularly in political gatherings. If you are organizing an event, please require and distribute high quality masks as visible expression of solidarity.

Please Forward this message widely to your community groups.

What’s Happening: Politicians are pushing mask bans

New York Governor Kathy Horchul just announced in a CNN interview that she is considering a ban on masking in New York State, following New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s suggestion that protesters should no longer be allowed to protect themselves and others by masking. Hochul’s remark alluded to masked pro-Palestine protesters – marking a new direct connection between anti-public health repression and repression of Palestine solidarity work. This comes just as North Carolina is nearly finished supercharging its law against masking, setting a precedent that is likely to have far-reaching implications for people trying to take care of their health across the United States.

The state of North Carolina has had a law on the books for years that criminalizes mask wearing. In 2020, they correctly amended their rule to include an exemption for “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of others.” However, this exemption is currently being undone. In mid-May, North Carolina’s Senate tried to pass a bill to remove this exemption. In the face of significant public opposition, North Carolina’s House of Representatives rejected the Senate’s version. On June 12, a “compromise” bill that included language ”to ensure that individuals who have legitimate health concerns can wear a surgical or medical-grade mask in public” was passed by both legislatures.

This “compromise” is a bad bill.The changes it introduces do not go far enough to protect individuals’ interest in masking for their health. Other changes actually make this version worse than the previous Senate version of the bill.

The earlier bill entirely removed exemption #6, which protected “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” As a “compromise,” the current bill includes exemption #6 but has removed the phrase “for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” In its place, the exemption will be for “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” As noted by North Carolina’s legislative counsel, the earlier bill meant that “individuals would no longer be able to wear masks in public for health or safety reasons.” Yet, the new bill, by also removing the “physical health and safety” language, is effectively the same as the earlier bill: individuals will have a more limited ability to wear masks in public.

This is a negation of an important individual right. People have a right to self defense, including a right to protect their health. Such a right is significantly broader than an interest in “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” For example, breathing wildfire smoke is damaging to your health but has nothing to do with contagious disease.

Moreover, the new bill proposes to give every person in North Carolina the legal right to ask those around them to unmask—something we haven’t seen anywhere in the US to-date. Under the 2020 version of North Carolina’s anti-mask law, law enforcement officers could request that people remove their masks in certain situations, even if they were relying on the health and safety exemption. The new bill extends that power, allowing “the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present” to request that the wearer “temporarily remove” their mask. This rule threatens to amplify the practice of “mask shaming” by giving employers, colleagues, and “occupants of public property” a legal basis for demanding that people wearing medical masks show them their faces. In fact, before the law was even signed, a stage 4 cancer patient at a gas station was intentionally coughed on by another customer, who told her that wearing a mask in public was illegal.

Not only does this rule provide a dangerous ground for harassment, it makes public spaces unsafe for people trying to avoid COVID and other viruses, particularly medically vulnerable people. There is no safe amount of time to unmask, particularly as ventilation conditions and viral load can vary. People may be asked to unmask multiple times, further increasing risk.

As the North Carolina bill is one signature away from becoming law, mask restrictions are now being pushed elsewhere and across party lines, like New York state. Last month, the Ohio Attorney General advised public universities that student protestors who wear masks could be charged with felonies under an archaic anti-mask law. And of course, just this week, the Governor of New York told CNN she was looking into whether the state could reinstate its own 200-year-old anti-masking law, which it had repealed in 2020. Across the country, police have been harassing people wearing masks on campus using a variety of legal justifications.

These legislations and legislative attempts aim to set a new precedent for the right-wing agenda, as evidenced by their attention to ban mask mandates in healthcare in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 document co-signed/supported by hundreds of far-right and Trump-allied organizations. These same repressive forces have made inroads in dismantling reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare options. Their attention is now also focusing on those practicing community care and bodily autonomy by wearing masks.

How did we get here?

Although these fascistic mask ban policies have been kick-started by the far-right, many police officials and some elected Democrats, too, are joining team “Far Right” to sacrifice public health at the altar of increased surveillance. Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams has been urging business owners to require customers to lower their protective medical masks upon entry as a crime-prevention technique, claiming that refusal to unmask “should cause … alarm” and now suggests he favors outright bans on masking in some situations as well. And Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez of Chicago’s 15th Ward has now submitted a proposal with similar language to the North Caroline bill, to increase penalties on any protesters arrested while wearing a mask. His staff told us that there is no plan to exempt medical masks. Many other Democrats – through silence on this issue and through broader inaction on public health – have helped to institutionalize an anti-public health agenda, reinforce structural ableism, and further isolate anyone who wants to avoid a preventable, still deadly, and often disabling virus.

Not only a terrifying threat to all our health and safety as well as our rights to privacy, mask bans violate our Constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are an egregious overstep on behalf of right wing forces to erase and to criminalize our efforts to care for ourselves and others. It’s no coincidence that these bans began in the US South, specifically targeting, intimidating, and harming Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples.

Mask bans also serve short-term corporate interests, which center profits over the lives of workers and consumers. In-N-Out burger publicly banned its employees from wearing masks, seemingly because an inability to "service with a smile" due to mask-wearing meant revenue loss. Hospital chains dangerously removed mask mandates in part due to slowdown in elective procedures caused by COVID testing requirements and mask-wearing policies.

But there is a lot we can do

We all have a responsibility to fight this right-wing agenda, to protect everyone’s right to participate in public life without making ourselves and our community sick. If you have stopped masking, now is a good time to reengage with this practice in public spaces, and particularly in political gatherings. If you are organizing an event, please require and distribute high quality masks for all as visible expression of solidarity.

We must protect our right to health, bodily autonomy, privacy, and political expression.

Take Action:

Wear a mask. To prevent COVID and Long COVID, EVERYONE should be masking in public with good-filtering, close-fitting respirator masks. We are all at risk ourselves, and we all pose risks to other people. So, wear an N95 mask in public spaces. If you are organizing an event – particularly a political event – require and distribute high quality masks for all. If you have stopped masking in public, this is a great time to re-engage the practice. Our opposition to this fascism must be made visible. There is safety in numbers. We keep us safe.

If you live in North Carolina, call your state representatives and state senators and use NC Megaphone’s tool to email all the State House and Senate representatives at once. Tell them mask bans are dangerous and unconstitutional.

If you live outside North Carolina, call the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Chambers of Commerce. Tell them you will not be traveling to North Carolina so long as they continue to consider mask bans. You can use the NC Megaphone tool above to do the same.

If you live in Chicago, call and email Alderman Lopez who proposed the mask ban there, and your own alderman and tell them that you oppose it in its entirety.

If you live in or frequent New York State, call 518-474-8390 (press 1 to leave a message, 2 to speak with a person) and email Governor Hochul to express your opposition to mask bans. If you live in or visit New York City, call and email Mayor Adams to say the same and express why his comments on masking are harmful. Follow @covidadvocacyny for more details

In every state, call your own elected officials. Ask if they have heard of any plans to introduce mask bans in your state, and register your dissent. Tell them: “mask bans are a dangerous violation of our rights. We need mask requirements in healthcare, not mask bans which will make public space even more unsafe and inaccessible.”

Connect with your local mask blocs or other local groups supporting COVID prevention.

Forward this message to your community groups and discuss mask bans with your family, friends, and community. Email us at info@peoplescdc.org if you would like more materials.

[cidnangarlond]

We have the names of 3 North Carolina representatives to put pressure on about the anti-mask bill! With enough support we can say them to vote no, so here's their contact information:

Representative Tim Reeder

Timothy.Reeder@ncleg.gov/

919-733-5757

Representative Kristin Baker

Kristin.Baker@ncleg.gov/

919-733-5861

Representative Donny Lambeth

Donny.Lambeth@ncleg.gov/

919-733-5747

You don't have to be from North Carolina to call or send an email by the way! Being from outside the state or even outside the country and putting pressure on them by saying you're not going to visit, cancel plans, etc. and that you're going to #BoycottNC is also how we got the bathroom bill killed. We don't have much time to keep putting pressure on them like this, so the sooner you contact them the better! Here is also a Google doc with a script at the bottom if you're someone who has trouble coming up with something to say (like me):

[covid-conscious-and-silly]

nassau county mask ban discussion notes

i decided to also make this a separate post for maximum circulation. see my original addendum to the nassau county mask ban/covid action item post (which has all the context in case you're unfamiliar with this) below:

Before I start with my summary, I want to clarify that the legislation discussed that the ban would only punish people wearing a mask to conceal their identity and are attempting to commit or have committed a crime (which is still not okay, but that's their current rhetoric). I took most of this very quickly and will leave commentary for the end (parentheticals are further clarification given during the meeting).

Legislative Discussion:

stated at beginning of meeting by Pilip that ban will not be voted on until august 5th; today is to address concerns

person who introduced the bill (Pilip) addressed antisemitism in her explanation

claimed that it is not against people wearing masks to protect themselves from illness

Bynoe asked who will be enforcing the ban, and the response was "the police"

MASKS COMPARED TO POCKETKNIVES by other legislator (Ferretti?) (in that someone can carry a pocketknife in their bag for protection, but someone could also use it to commit a crime)

Bynoe acknowledging that someone looking suspicious is subjective

ban is ultimately about intent to commit crime or commitment of crime while wearing a mask, not necessarily about just wearing a mask (but again, how will that be enforced??)

Bynoe also wants to know how this will be incorporated into police training (because ban is different from law that was in place until 2020)

Bynoe asks if someone would need permission to wear a mask in a store (which is not fully answered? more in a bit)

Pilip says that "a man wearing a keffiyeh who is completely covered and saying 'death to the Jews'" is bad, but if "a woman walking down the street wearing a mask is not doing anything," it's fine

Bynoe says that someone may "look suspicious" but is actually just being their normal self; "there's such a gray area here," especially because of the misdemeanor and heavy fine associated

Ferretti (?) says that someone wouldn't have to ask to wear a mask to enter a store as long as they are not attempting to conceal their identity (bill language: "without the consent of the owner or tenant")

Bynoe again emphasizes gray area (lots of back and forth and people not fully addressing the wobbly enforceability of the legislation)

Bynoe says this is not directly tied to criminal act (unlike North Carolina) and that this would result in people being "banished from stores" for "odd behavior," "but they still have the right to wear a mask"

Ferretti (?) said they will go back and adjust the language

Bynoe calling for law enforcement to be a part of the conversation

Mulé echoing Bynoe's comments about enforceability; concerned about subjectiveness of "odd behavior" as well, mentions behavior of autistic people specifically

Ferretti(?) states that someone saying that they're wearing a mask while committing a crime, like robbing a bank, that they're wearing a mask "for their health" will not stop them from being convicted of robbery

Mulé bringing up letters written by people concerned about the mask ban and people concerned about not being able to wear a mask; says that people should not have to fear not being able to wear a mask

Ferretti (?) says banks can bar people from walking in while wearing a mask (because they're a private entity and aren't subject to this law)

Davis also mentioning gray area; proposing instead to craft a law that makes "the underlying crime + the wearing of a covering" the "aggravating" factor (basically what Bynoe and Mulé have already brought up)

Davis also says that legislation could make committing a crime while wearing a mask comparable to a crime that is committed against a senior citizen or a child

Davis reads out part that says law enforcement may request someone to remove mask during a traffic stop or if they have reasonable suspicion (agrees with this language and says "and I think we all do want to do this")

Pilip asking for how to make ban better, Bynoe says that she will reach out with edits

Public Comment (I will be referring to people as "Person [insert number here]" for the sake of privacy unless they have named a kind of notable public organization of which they are a part or are some kind of public figure:

Person 1: public school teacher testifying about right to medical privacy; husband wears a mask in public to protect her! this ban will lead to people like her being harassed; Jewish and saying that something like this will not protect Jewish people; will endanger her health instead

Person 2: called legislation previously to get copy of mask ban language, was told they would need to FOIL in order to get copy of mask ban language; says that mask bans are unpopular and will be used to demonize people of color; COVID cases up and human H5N1 cases rising; wildfires in canada; how can police enforce this? documented bias over last three years in nassau county police reviews; this will be used to demonize protestors as well and give police more of a reason to escalate security at protests

Person 3: Jewish and COVID conscious family; they and teenage son were masking at crowded event outside; worried that their son would be detained for wearing a mask while playing pokémon go; worried about sacrificing health and safety at protest if protest turns violent and other people are committing crimes; find a different way to address these problems; "mask wearers deserve to be considered innocent and not suspicious"

Dr. Angelique Corthals (from Mask Together America!): discussing how COVID is ravaging communities and especially harming people of color; mentions potential of H5N1 pandemic; vaccines cannot fully stop transmission or long COVID; at-home tests are not as effective because of new variants; Nature says that mask banning is not an effective crime fighting tool and are not as good at hiding identity as sunglasses (which were mentioned previously); proposes bills for free N95 masks and PCR tests

Jonathan Gunther (?): chairman of nassau county libertarian party; opposes bill; violates first amendment (principles of free speech/expression and right to assembly); fourteenth amendment due process clause (lack of clarity prevents individuals from knowing if their actions will be perceived as "suspicious"); eighth amendment (cruel and unusual punishment; putting someone in prison for wearing a mask); several amendments (traffic stops violating individuals' rights); also condemning North Carolina's mask ban

Katherine Hawkland (they/them): organizing director of long island progressive coalition; people need to be able to wear masks regardless of drs notes; COVID is still killing people but not as much as 2020; what kind of documentation will people need? very unclear in legislation; had COVID early in 2020 and experienced cognitive symptoms but didn't test or know at the time (just felt like bad asthma attack and ended up out of work for two years because of brain damage); Black and Brown, trans, and unhoused folks will be targeted by this ban; hard enough to ask people to wear bans (and be precautious of COVID); something like this will make it even more difficult for others (as in potential allies) to wear masks

Denarii Grace (she/they): 37, Hempstead resident (graduated from local hs in 2005); creative person (singer, songwriter, essayist, public speaker, etc.) but attended Rutgers to be an English teacher; became disabled in multiple ways, COVID is "shrinking my life"; anyone can become disabled at any time; Black, trans, and queer folks face more discrimination and make it harder for people in those groups to live; cannot work like other people can work; unfair that she has to live in fear because "people like me are never thought of in government"; ban is an "unguided unjust law that puts the burden on the most vulnerable"

end of public comment.

They, again, made it sound like they were going to vote on this on August 5th, but there was some kind of vote today. the item passes with 4 yeses and 3 abstaining (Mulé, Davis, and Bynoe).

TL,DR; the three legislators who abstained brought up concerns about the mask ban's language. a lot of back and forth happened that will presumably be resolved at a later date. seven people spoke, all against the mask ban. the ban was passed.

if i misinterpreted the voting, please let me know. i don't know what exactly will be happening on August 5th. i think it's also important to note that pilip served in the iof and used very subtle anti-Palestinian rhetoric when she spoke (see: when she gives an example of someone who would be violating the ban, she demonizes men wearing keffiyehs).

i will be paying attention to this as much as possible and will update whenever i can. i'm not a resident of nassau county, but this is the closest mask ban to me, so i feel compelled to fight especially hard against this.

as for you, i see your compassion and care for others. thank you for your energy. we're still in this together <3

[tieflingkisser]

Biden, CDC silent as North Carolina lawmakers vote to ban masks

Biden's White House has made everyday survival hell for disabled people. Now the last tool in the toolbox is being targeted with zero pushback.

This week, North Carolina Republicans are voting to ban wearing masks in public. The bill passed in the State House easily, was amended and passed in the State Senate, and will next return to the House for a vote on the amended bill. The Republicans also hold a supermajority that could overturn a veto, and killed a Democratic amendment to allow masking for health reasons. Hot on the heels of student encampments demanding that universities divest from weapons’ manufacturers responsible for mass murder in Gaza, Republicans jumped at the chance to criminalize two of their favorite punching bags, leftists and medically vulnerable people. Disabled people and allies have met the news with chagrin, as Republicans carry out the long-predicted next step in their war on medically vulnerable people appearing in public and remaining alive. Unfortunately, as Joe Biden jokes about refusing to put his mask on after a known COVID exposure, and left/labor pundits ignore the topic altogether, “allies” are few and far between. This combination of aggressive targeting and utter lack of solidarity is leaving those who rely on one-way masking to survive more at-risk than ever before.

[...]

Since it became clear (2021-22) that vaccines would not halt COVID transmission, that the virus would quickly mutate around vaccine protection, and that herd immunity would never be achieved, our government and media have worked assiduously to normalize constant reinfections and stigmatize those who object. People who suggest that it is the governments’ role to mitigate disease are painted as annoying and weak, a narrative that came directly from libertarian think tanks. Those who attempt to protect themselves in the face of harsh abandonment are painted as paranoid and mentally ill. What happened in North Carolina today is the unsurprising result of that years-long propaganda campaign. Masks are a critical tool to protect disabled people from COVID, but many people either bought into anti-mask propaganda, or do not think COVID is dangerous. For a leftist- someone who expresses belief in community care and solidarity- being unmasked doesn’t only convey the sentiment “I don’t think I can be disabled by COVID,” it also broadcasts the accusation, “I don’t believe you can be disabled by COVID.” Being unmasked while COVID spreads unmitigated is an insistence on ones’ inalienable right to expose others to COVID without their consent. Meanwhile, the latest CDC Household Pulse Survey found 17 million Americans currently living with Long COVID, and approximately 3 in 10 reporting having had Long COVID symptoms at one point. Viral persistence is currently a leading hypothesis for the development of post-COVID disease, and “persistence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA or particles in multiple tissues for prolonged periods in patients following SARS-CoV-2 infection, particularly in patients with long COVID, is now well documented.” Mounting research shows that every COVID infection significantly damages cognitive function. Research led by Dr. Akiko Iwasaki at Yale School of Medicine continues to find immune dysregulation following COVID, and studies point to a 40% increased risk of developing autoimmune conditions after COVID. And it’s long been established that COVID substantially increases your risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular complications.

[...]

But Democrats continue to stand behind their failed “vaccine-only” strategy (now, without vaccines!) because of the political impossibility of attempting to pivot. Plus, when you’ve had such blinding success mainstreaming far-right beliefs about illness building the immune system and public health being a personal choice, why change horses now?

[republicansaredomesticterrorists]

“Michele Morrow, a conservative activist who last week upset the incumbent Superintendent of Public Instruction in North Carolina’s Republican primary, expressed support in 2020 for the televised execution of former President Barack Obama and suggested killing then-President-elect Joe Biden.

In other comments on social media between 2019 and 2021 reviewed by CNN’s KFile, Morrow made disturbing suggestions about executing prominent Democrats for treason, including Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Hillary Clinton, Sen. Chuck Schumer and other prominent people such as Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates.

“I prefer a Pay Per View of him in front of the firing squad,” she wrote in a tweet from May 2020, responding to a user sharing a conspiracy theory who suggested sending Obama to prison at Guantanamo Bay. “I do not want to waste another dime on supporting his life. We could make some money back from televising his death.”

In another post in May 2020, she responded to a fake Time Magazine cover that featured art of Obama in an electric chair asking if he should be executed.

“Death to ALL traitors!!” Morrow responded.

In yet another comment, Morrow suggested in December 2020 killing Biden, who at that time was president-elect, and has said he would ask Americans to wear a mask for 100 days.

“Never. We need to follow the Constitution’s advice and KILL all TRAITORS!!! #JusticeforAmerica,” she wrote.”

😡

[hazelbutterflies]

UPDATE ON THE NORTH CAROLINA MASK BILL 6/24/24

The NC governor vetoed the bill but it still can be passed by the house because they have a Republican super majority. PLEASE EVEN IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN NORTH CAROLINA , say you won’t go there because of the mask ban. you can message all NC house representatives though ncmegaphone

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

The North Carolina Senate voted along party lines Wednesday to ban anyone from wearing masks in public for health reasons, following an emotional debate about the wisdom of the proposal.

Republican supporters of the ban said it would help police crack down on protesters who wear masks — which some lawmakers called a growing concern, saying demonstrators are abusing COVID-19 pandemic-era norms to wear masks that hide their identities.

“It’s about time that the craziness is at least slowed down, if not literally stopped,” said bill sponsor Buck Newton, R-Wilson.

The proposal faced strong opposition from Democratic lawmakers, community activists, and advocates for people with health issues — who are concerned about the consequences of the proposal.

You can read the rest of this story here.

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Meant To Be: Part 12

Pairings: Past Machine Gun Kelly x Reader, Opie x Reader

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 2,348

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10 / Part 11

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of your pregnancy flew by in the blink of an eye. Between taking care of Gage, working odd jobs, spending time with Opie, and the religious visits from a very sober Colson, time just slipped away from you. Before you knew it, you were scheduling your c-section for Zoey Rose to join the world. 

“You look ridiculous.” You giggled as you looked over at Colson when he joined you in the delivery room. The tattooed father of your children simply shrugged as he adjusted the mask on his face. 

“I fucking feel it, too.” He laughed as he took the seat beside your head to wait for his daughter to be born. He met your eyes and sighed with a small shake of his head. “Thank you.”

“For?”

“Letting me be here for this.” He replied as he reached out to take your hand before catching himself and putting his hand back in his lap. “Not asking Lurch to be here…”

“She’s your daughter, Colson.” You breathed as the doctor let you know he was starting. “Not his.”

“I know.” He said as he leaned around the drape to look at what was going on. “But you still could have asked him to be here instead of me. He is your boyfriend after all.”

“And that still doesn’t change the fact that you are her father.” You replied as you searched his eyes. “No matter what is going on between us, we are still her parents. Thats what the custody agreement says. And her DNA and all that shit.”

“I know.” He sighed as he looked back around the drape, cringing the slightest bit at what he saw. “Still… thank you.” You nodded your head and looked up at the ceiling with a small sigh.

“You guys ready to meet your daughter?” The doctor asked, making Colson stand up from his spot so he could see better. “Here she is.” Your breath caught in your lungs as you waited for that first cry, and when Zoey finally released her first noise, tears welled in your eyes. You looked over at Colson as he was handed your daughter and a smile stretched across your face.

“Holy fuck.” He gasped as his heart expanded to fit all the love he felt for his second born. “Holy shit, look at you! You’re beautiful.”

“Lemmie see.” You choked as you watched them. He nodded his head and sat back down so that he could show you your child’s sweet face, but you shook your head. “No, put her on my chest, Colson. Let me see.”

“She’s perfect.” He whispered as he laid her across your chest as carefully as he could. He kept his hand on her side, afraid to even look away as you gently brushed your fingertips across the top of her head. The two of you basked in her adorableness for a long moment as she cried her little heart out before the nurse had to take her. The moment she was out of your sight, Colson shook his head frantically.

“Don’t take them.” He begged as he sat back down on the stool and grabbed your hand. “Please. I’m literally begging you, (Y/N). Don’t take my kids to North Carolina. Please, I’ll do anything…”

“Colson…”

“I’ll pay your rent and all your bills.” He pleaded as he gripped your hand tight and searched your eyes. “I’ll stop calling your boyfriend Lurch. I’ll get completely sober and never touch another drug again. I’ll literally do anything you want me to do just please, please stay here with them. I can’t…”

“OK.” You interrupted as you squeezed his hand as tightly as you could. “OK, just breathe. I…”

“Please.” He begged again as he reached out to cup your jaw in his hand. “Please.” With a small shake of your head, you looked at his tense posture and searched his eyes as you pulled your face out of his palm.

“I’ll think about it and talk to Opie.” You sighed. He nodded his head and wiped a tear off his face, which made your heart break for him.

“OK.” He agreed with a nod as he put a bit of physical distance between the two of you. “Thats all I’m asking.” With a nod of agreement, you looked back up at the ceiling with your mind reeling at his request. 

~~~~~~~~~~ 

“She is beautiful.” Opie said as he sat in the recliner seat in your hospital room the next morning, holding Zoey in his arms with a smile on his face. You nodded in agreement with a small smile on your face as he glanced up at you. His brow furrowed and he tilted his head to the side the slightest bit. “Whats wrong?”

“Colson dropped a bomb in the delivery room.” You sighed as you ran your fingers through your hair. You covered your face with your hands and swore softly before carefully turning on the bed to face your boyfriend. “He’s willing to pay our rent and all our bills for the foreseeable future, to get sober, even to even stop calling you Lurch if we agree to not move to North Carolina with the kids.” He groaned and sat back in his chair while shaking his head.

“Babe…”

“Opie, they’re his kids.” You breathed as you twisted your hands in your lap and looked down at your tattooed skin. “I get where he is coming from…”

“Babe, so do I.” He interrupted, making you look up at him. “I get it. Look, I know we live together but I am not the father of Gage and Zoey. That’s his title and always will be. I can completely understand where he is coming from not wanting his children to move half way across the country. But you have sole physical custody of these babies. You do. So it is up to you on what you want to do…”

“Opie…”

“No, it’s true.” He interrupted gently as he got up and came over to sit with you on the hospital bed so he could put his arm around you. “We both hate L.A.. That’s no secret. But the father of your kids is here. We both have jobs here and friends here. Sure your family is there, but your kids’ family is here. So I get why you would want to stay for their sake, especially after everything Colson has done to be a present father the last few months.” You nodded at at him with tears in your eyes and he smirked and shook his head. “Baby girl, to be completely honest, I knew two months ago that we weren’t moving home. I could see it in your eyes when you stopped looking for houses for us to rent or buy back home. And I’m OK with that. Truly, I am.”

“I don’t know what to do!” You cried as a few tears slipped from your eyes. He smiled and rubbed your back with a small nod.

“Yea you do, baby. That’s the thing. You’ve known what you wanted to do for a while now, you just didn’t want to see it yourself yet. You just feel bad because you told your family you were coming back and now you’re not. Like I said, I get it. You want your kids to have their father in their lives more than what the custody agreement says because he has been in their life in a positive way. You still love him enough that you don’t want to break his heart and take them away. That’s OK. I’m not upset…”

“You’re not?” You sniffled as you searched his eyes for a hint of a lie.

“No, baby girl. I’m not.” He chuckled as he glanced down at Zoey in his arms before looking back at you. “(Y/N), I love you. And I know you love me, too. There isn’t a doubt in my mind about that. But you still love the father of your children. Not in the same capacity, but you do love him. And you don’t want to break his heart by moving across the country with his kids. I get it. I am here for you either way, same as I always have been and always will be.”

“Ope…” 

“I know.” He said as he pulled you into his side and kissed the top of your head. “I know.”

“You’re too good for me.” You whispered as you put your hand on his knee and gave it a little squeeze.

“I’m not good enough.” He whispered back against your hair before reaching between you to tilt your face up so he could kiss you properly. 

“You really knew we weren’t going to move two months ago?” You asked against his lips as you opened your eyes to search his. He smirked and nodded his head.

“I know you, baby girl.”

“And you’re OK with staying here?”

“I’m OK with it.” He said as he pulled away to look back at whoever was knocking at the door. “This is our home, like it or not. Come in!” 

“Hey.” Colson said softly as he stepped into the room, sheepishly. “I��� um… well I brought breakfast and I thought…”

“Just get in here.” You laughed as you wiped the tears off your cheeks and carefully maneuvered back into bed. “Ooo bagels. Gimme!” Your ex handed you the bag before carefully taking Zoey from Opie, who quietly left the room to give you a minute with your ex. You started spreading smear on a toasted bagel and glanced up with a sigh. “We’re gunna stay.”

“What?!” Colson gasped as he whipped around to look at you with wide, tear filled eyes. “For real?”

“For real.” You said as you rested your wrist on your hospital table.

“Thank fuck.” He sighed as he sank down on the bed near your knees and let his tears spill over. “Thank you. I swear, I’ll…”

“You…” You interrupted as you glanced down at your daughter. “Just need to be a father to your kids. That’s all. You don’t have to pay my rent or whatever, just keep being there for your kids. Preferably sober.”

“I will.” He sniffled as you took a bite of your bagel and sat back against the bed. “I fucking swear it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“So you’re not moving back to North Carolina now.” Your dad asked as he sat in your living room, helping Gage hold his baby sister in his lap. You sheepishly shook your head and searched what you could see of his eyes. 

“Are you mad?”

“Not mad.” He said with a shake of his head as he looked up at you. “Not particularly happy, but not mad at all.”

“Their father is here.” You sighed as you ran your fingers through your hair and curled up in your spot on the couch. “And I just…”

“I get it.” He said with a nod as he looked back down at his grand babies with love in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” He said quickly as he shook his head and looked back up at you. “As a parent, I get it. It’s the whole reason Anne and I didn’t move closer to her parents when we got married. Because I needed to be close to my kids. You are realizing that your kids need to be close to their father. It’s no different. It’s also very grown up of you.”

“That feels like a trap.” You huffed, which made him smile. 

“Parenting is a trap, sweetheart.” He chuckled as he quickly took Zoey from Gage, who wanted to go play with his toys again before a nap. “As is co-parenting.”

“Yea well, I knew that.” You giggled as Tabby came over after finishing the lunch dishes.

“You’re not getting back together, right?” She asked as she sat down beside you sideways on the couch.

“Not a fucking chance in hell.”

“Well then I think it’s admirable.” She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair with a smile. “You’re being the bigger person.”

“What are you gunna do about work then?” Ross asked as he sat back in his spot and got comfortable.

“Well… I have a couple minor guest spots on TV shows and a music video lined up after my Criminal Minds episode aired. And I think Dolce and Gabbana wants me to walk their runway in the spring. So I have a couple things. I’m also thinking about doing… other things to supplement.”

“What’s that mean?” Your dad asked, which made you blush.

“Porn, daddy.” Tabby answered for you. “She means porn.”

“Not porn!” You hissed as you whacked her leg while your dad cleared his throat and blushed hard. “It’s like modeling for Penthouse…”

“So porn.” Your sister repeated with a smirk, which made you scowl. 

“Modeling tastefully nude.” You hissed with a glance over at your son to make sure he wasn’t listening. “For the Suicide Girls and Penthouse. Not porn.”

“(Y/N) (Y/M/N)…” Your dad scolded, which made you blush this time.

“It’s a job that I’m good at.” You sighed as you looked at your dad, while your sister smirked gleefully at your side. “And one I like doing. I like modeling, dad.”

“And you have to do it… naked?!” He whispered the last word, which made you and your sister both laugh.

“I’m done having this conversation with you old man.” You laughed as Opie came in through the garage after work. Your dad muttered ‘thank God’ under his breath as you smiled up at your significant other. “How was the shoot?”

“Good. What are you two laughing at?”

“Nothing.”

“(Y/N)’s love of modeling naked.” Tabby said at the same time, which made you turn to whack her leg again.

“Awkward.” Opie chuckled as he kissed your forehead on his way around the couch to put his camera bag down in its spot on the built in bookshelf behind his desk.

“Very awkward.” Your dad agreed with a nod of his head. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

[liminalweirdo]

the petition to halt the passage of North Carolina's Bill 237 which wants to Ban masks in public (siiiigh) is trying to reach 25,000 signatures.

You can sign even if you aren't in NC or the US.

More action items:

Here is a google doc with a script for opposing Lopez’s Proposed Ordinance Introduced to Chicago’s City Council on May 22, 2024, and includes information on how to find your alderman

If you are frequently in Chicago for medical appointments, visiting family or friends, etc., find out what ward you spend the most time in here and make note of the Alderman’s email and phone number. Otherwise, you can focus on Alderman Lopez at ward15@cityofchicago.org / 773-823-1539.

Here is a script:

“I visit Chicago frequently for _________________ and I am writing to express my strong opposition to Ald. Lopez’s proposed amendment to Title 8 of the Municipal Code of Chicago, “Enhanced penalties for concealing or attempting to conceal identity.”

If passed, this ordinance would prevent me from safely traveling to Chicago while wearing a mask, which is an essential safety device for me and all immunocompromised people. Furthermore, it would increase the number of people being sent to Illinois prisons, disproportionately affecting Black and brown Chicagoans; and it would undermine both public health and our constitutional right to protest.

Please oppose this ordinance so that I, and others like me, can continue traveling to Chicago. Thank you.

[chronicandironic]

Here’s a great resource following all the mask bans going on in the USA. The text below is copied from the post.

Take Action

Wear a mask. To prevent COVID and Long COVID, EVERYONE should be masking in public with good-filtering, close-fitting respirator masks. We are all at risk ourselves, and we all pose risks to other people. So, wear an N95 mask in public spaces. If you are organizing an event – particularly a political event – require and distribute high quality masks for all. If you have stopped masking in public, this is a great time to re-engage the practice. Our opposition to this fascism must be made visible. There is safety in numbers. We keep us safe.

If you live in North Carolina,

Call your state representatives and state senators and use NC Megaphone’s tool to email all the State House and Senate representatives at once. Tell them mask bans are dangerous and unconstitutional.

If you live outside North Carolina, call the Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill Chambers of Commerce. Tell them you will not be traveling to North Carolina so long as they continue to consider mask bans. You can use the NC Megaphone tool above to do the same.

The bill has passed in NC but it wouldn’t hurt to still message your reps, or say you won’t go there.

If you live in Chicago,

Call and email Alderman Lopez who proposed the mask ban there, and your own alderman and tell them that you oppose it in its entirety.

If you live in or frequent New York State,

Call 518-474-8390 (press 1 to leave a message, 2 to speak with a person) and email Governor Hochul to express your opposition to mask bans. If you live in or visit New York City, call and email Mayor Adams to say the same and express why his comments on masking are harmful. Follow @covidadvocacyny for more details

In every state,

Call your own elected officials. Ask if they have heard of any plans to introduce mask bans in your state, and register your dissent. Tell them: “mask bans are a dangerous violation of our rights. We need mask requirements in healthcare, not mask bans which will make public space even more unsafe and inaccessible.”

Forward this message to your community groups and discuss mask bans with your family, friends, and community. Email them at info@peoplescdc.org if you would like more materials.

Background: Politicians are pushing mask bans

In mid June New York Governor Kathy Horchul announced in a CNN interview that she is considering a ban on masking in New York State, following New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s suggestion that protesters should no longer be allowed to protect themselves and others by masking. Hochul’s remark alluded to masked pro-Palestine protesters – marking a new direct connection between anti-public health repression and repression of Palestine solidarity work. This comes just as North Carolina is nearly finished supercharging its law against masking, setting a precedent that is likely to have far-reaching implications for people trying to take care of their health across the United States.

The state of North Carolina has had a law on the books for years that criminalizes mask wearing. In 2020, they correctly amended their rule to include an exemption for “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of others.” However, this exemption is currently being undone. In mid-May, North Carolina’s Senate tried to pass a bill to remove this exemption. In the face of significant public opposition, North Carolina’s House of Representatives rejected the Senate’s version. On June 12, a “compromise” bill that included language ”to ensure that individuals who have legitimate health concerns can wear a surgical or medical-grade mask in public” was passed by both legislatures.

This “compromise” is a bad bill.The changes it introduces do not go far enough to protect individuals’ interest in masking for their health. Other changes actually make this version worse than the previous Senate version of the bill.

The earlier bill entirely removed exemption #6, which protected “any person wearing a mask for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” As a “compromise,” the current bill includes exemption #6 but has removed the phrase “for the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others.” In its place, the exemption will be for “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” As noted by North Carolina’s legislative counsel, the earlier bill meant that “individuals would no longer be able to wear masks in public for health or safety reasons.” Yet, the new bill, by also removing the “physical health and safety” language, is effectively the same as the earlier bill: individuals will have a more limited ability to wear masks in public.

This is a negation of an important individual right. People have a right to self defense, including a right to protect their health. Such a right is significantly broader than an interest in “preventing the spread of contagious disease.” For example, breathing wildfire smoke is damaging to your health but has nothing to do with contagious disease.

Moreover, the new bill proposes to give every person in North Carolina the legal right to ask those around them to unmask—something we haven’t seen anywhere in the US to-date. Under the 2020 version of North Carolina’s anti-mask law, law enforcement officers could request that people remove their masks in certain situations, even if they were relying on the health and safety exemption. The new bill extends that power, allowing “the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present” to request that the wearer “temporarily remove” their mask. This rule threatens to amplify the practice of “mask shaming” by giving employers, colleagues, and “occupants of public property” a legal basis for demanding that people wearing medical masks show them their faces. In fact, before the law was even signed, a stage 4 cancer patient at a gas station was intentionally coughed on by another customer, who told her that wearing a mask in public was illegal.

Not only does this rule provide a dangerous ground for harassment, it makes public spaces unsafe for people trying to avoid COVID and other viruses, particularly medically vulnerable people. There is no safe amount of time to unmask, particularly as ventilation conditions and viral load can vary. People may be asked to unmask multiple times, further increasing risk.

As the North Carolina bill is one signature away from becoming law, mask restrictions are now being pushed elsewhere and across party lines, like New York state. Last month, the Ohio Attorney General advised public universities that student protestors who wear masks could be charged with felonies under an archaic anti-mask law. And of course, just this week, the Governor of New York told CNN she was looking into whether the state could reinstate its own 200-year-old anti-masking law, which it had repealed in 2020. Across the country, police have been harassing people wearing masks on campus using a variety of legal justifications.

These legislations and legislative attempts aim to set a new precedent for the right-wing agenda, as evidenced by their attention to ban mask mandates in healthcare in the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 document co-signed/supported by hundreds of far-right and Trump-allied organizations. These same repressive forces have made inroads in dismantling reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare options. Their attention is now also focusing on those practicing community care and bodily autonomy by wearing masks.

(I had to copy and paste all the links, which took time, I doubled checked but some might be missing, if the link isn’t correct go to the original post and check there. If you want more links, contact me or google.)

How did we get here?

Although these fascistic mask ban policies have been kick-started by the far-right, many police officials and some elected Democrats, too, are joining team “Far Right” to sacrifice public health at the altar of increased surveillance. Democratic New York City mayor Eric Adams has been urging business owners to require customers to lower their protective medical masks upon entry as a crime-prevention technique, claiming that refusal to unmask “should cause … alarm” and now suggests he favors outright bans on masking in some situations as well. And Democratic Alderman Raymond Lopez of Chicago’s 15th Ward has now submitted a proposal with similar language to the North Caroline bill, to increase penalties on any protesters arrested while wearing a mask. His staff told us that there is no plan to exempt medical masks. Many other Democrats – through silence on this issue and through broader inaction on public health – have helped to institutionalize an anti-public health agenda, reinforce structural ableism, and further isolate anyone who wants to avoid a preventable, still deadly, and often disabling virus.

Not only a terrifying threat to all our health and safety as well as our rights to privacy, mask bans violate our Constitutional rights and the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are an egregious overstep on behalf of right wing forces to erase and to criminalize our efforts to care for ourselves and others. It’s no coincidence that these bans began in the US South, specifically targeting, intimidating, and harming Black, Brown, and Indigenous peoples.

Mask bans also serve short-term corporate interests, which center profits over the lives of workers and consumers. In-N-Out burger publicly banned its employees from wearing masks, seemingly because an inability to “service with a smile” due to mask-wearing meant revenue loss. Hospital chains dangerously removed mask mandates in part due to slowdown in elective procedures caused by COVID testing requirements and mask-wearing policies.

But there is a lot we can do

We all have a responsibility to fight this right-wing agenda, to protect everyone’s right to participate in public life without making ourselves and our community sick. If you have stopped masking, now is a good time to reengage with this practice in public spaces, and particularly in political gatherings. If you are organizing an event, please require and distribute high quality masks for all as visible expression of solidarity.

We must protect our right to health, bodily autonomy, privacy, and political expression.

[covid-safer-hotties]

They're Coming for Your Mask: A Survey on Discrimination

Published in late June, but ringing especially true given yesterday's successful mask ban in Nassau County, NY.

It's already happening.

When the state of North Carolina first proposed a mask ban this year, advocates from across the country warned lawmakers that it would embolden anti-maskers and lead to a surge in harassment and assault. Days after it passed, a woman with stage 4 cancer was assaulted by a man for wearing a mask. He told her wearing a mask was illegal. When she tried to explain her medical condition, he cussed her out and then started coughing on her.

He told her he hoped she died.

More recently, Nassau County in New York passed an even more draconian mask ban, threatening anyone with a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail. Like the NC ban, this bill makes a blanket declaration, giving law enforcement broad discretion and putting the burden of proof on individuals. Under these types of bills, it's entirely possible for police officers or even ordinary citizens to abuse the laws, forcing people to unmask even if they're just trying to avoid infection.

At a Chicago airport, an infectious disease expert was denied service at a restaurant for trying to enter with a mask. When she asked why, the staff simply repeated, "It's the policy."

She was told to leave.

There's one point continually missed by mainstream coverage of these mask bans. Politicians keep saying nothing has changed, but they're lying. Under the new law in NC, for example, anyone who considers themselves an "occupant of public property" can demand someone remove their mask for identification. In the bill's exact words, anyone wearing a mask for health reasons "shall remove the mask upon request by a law enforcement officer or temporarily remove the mask upon request by the owner or occupant of public or private property where the wearer is present to allow for identification of the wearer."

This intentionally vague language allows virtually anyone to take it upon themselves to "request" someone "temporarily" remove their mask for identification. If they don't, they're breaking the law and they can be arrested, even charged with a felony. Maybe that sounds like a compromise to someone who doesn't understand viral transmission.

It's not a compromise at all.

Read the rest at the link!