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Over the past few months, lawmakers in several states and localities have been advocating for mask bans and have seen success in places like North Carolina and Nassau County, New York. These proposals follow a wave of protests opposing human rights violations perpetrated against Palestinians, at which participants wore medical masks used to curb the spread of COVID-19. This is not the first time mask bans have been weaponized against protestors – arcane anti-mask laws have been used against antiracism, police violence, Occupy Wall Street and other protestors when politically expedient. But with the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on and conservative efforts to delegitimize the efficacy of masks, the renewed push to ban face masks, catapulted by fear-mongering and a legacy of eugenics, will harm and threaten the health and safety of disabled people, particularly disabled women and disabled women of color.

I am disabled, immunocompromised and high-risk for severe COVID-19 infection. On top of my pre-existing conditions, I’ve had Long COVID since late 2022 after contracting COVID-19 a second time, making the risks of contracting COVID again even greater. I’ve been masking since 2020 – I never stopped. When I leave my apartment, I wear an N95 mask. We know that transgender people and cisgender women are more likely to experience long COVID compared to cisgender men, and rates of long COVID are also elevated for Black and Hispanic individuals. Disabled people have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, and women are more likely than men to have a disability. At the same time, women, people of color and LGBTQI+ individuals are more likely to work in the service industry and low-wage jobs – jobs that inherently increase the chances of COVID exposure. On top of that, these jobs are less likely to provide benefits such as paid leave, which could lead to poorer outcomes from infection.

For those of us with pre-existing conditions, including Long COVID, our system has failed us by politicizing and underfunding public health infrastructure, abandoning masking and avoiding investments in improving indoor air quality. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) changed their masking recommendations and governments started to lift mask mandates, disabled people were told that we could simply continue to wear masks (despite evidence that one-way masking is far less effective) or stay home. We stood by as the federal government, and state and local governments, left us behind, making it impossible to live, work and participate in our economy safely. With mask bans on the horizon, what we are hearing even louder and clearer is, “You simply should not exist.” This is eugenics rearing its head – modern-day Ugly Laws intended to keep us out of sight and out of mind.

I already feel psychologically and physically unsafe – particularly as a woman – wearing a mask in certain situations. I have been harassed and assaulted – even in my own building. It is not uncommon to receive off-hand comments or glances. Despite “health exemptions” with a stated purpose of allowing people like me to wear masks to protect our health, these exemptions are incredibly vague, and individuals are empowered and enabled to ramp up this behavior. For example, during a Nassau County Council meeting discussing the proposed measure, masked individuals were openly harassed and violently arrested – even before the passage of the measure. Much of the proposed or implemented mask bans allow police, property owners (including businesses), or others to force people to remove their masks for “identification” or if there is “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity. But police, property owners and other citizens should not be allowed to determine whether I am wearing a mask to protect my health and safety. Just looking at me, I do not always appear disabled. The stakes are even higher for disabled people of color who must continue to mask to protect themselves. People of color, particularly Black people, are more likely to experience misconduct in police interactions – a disparity rooted in the United States’ history of slavery and ongoing systemic oppression. These mask bans are just one more excuse for police to engage in discriminatory profiling.

With mask ban proposals gaining a concerning amount of momentum statewide in New York, and a mask ban recently passing in Nassau County, I worry about whether potential and implemented mask bans will impact my ability to see loved ones, as most of my family is still on Long Island. Those who live in North Carolina are already experiencing harassment following the passage of its mask ban in June, and I worry for disabled folks who live in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City where conversations about potential mask bans continue. I worry about whether this push to ban masks will spread – making it difficult for me to live, work and participate in our economy. This push to ban masks, triggered by a false narrative that mask bans deter crime despite little to no evidence, will only make us less safe as the pandemic rages on. In fact, as of August 9, 2024, 44 states had high or very high viral activity levels of SARS-COV-2 in wastewater. As of July 30, 2024, COVID-19 infections were growing or likely growing in 35 states and territories. We cannot let fear cloud our judgment. The lives of disabled people – your friends, family members, colleagues and more – are on the line, and we are watching.

The author would like to thank Anushey Ahmed, Sharita Gruberg, and Erin Mackay for their contributions.