The Why and How of Fighting Mask Bans

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://autisticadvocacy.org/2026/03/the-why-and-how-of-fighting-mask-bans/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-why-and-how-of-fighting-mask-bans

Three #AntiProtestLaws recently passed in #Arizona, #Kentucky and #Texas

Source: https://www.icnl.org/usprotestlawtracker/

Arizona
HB 2880: Banning #protest #encampments on #campus

Bars protest encampments on the campuses of state colleges and universities. Under the new law, individuals or groups that establish an “encampment” are no longer lawfully present on campus for the purpose of speech protections under Arizona law; they are criminally liable to prosecution for trespass; and they are liable for any damage they cause, including the "direct and indirect costs" of removing the encampment and "restoring" campus. The new law defines “encampment” as “temporary shelter” installed on campus and used to stay overnight or “for a prolonged period of time.” The law requires colleges and universities to order individuals to dismantle and vacate any encampment; if the individuals refuse to comply, the institution is required to take disciplinary action and report the individuals to local law enforcement for trespassing. The sponsor of the new law said that it was motivated by #ProPalestine protests on college campuses.
Full bill text:
https://apps.azleg.gov/BillStatus/BillOverview/83353

Status: enacted

Introduced 12 Feb 2025; Approved by House 3 March 2025; Approved by Senate 30 April 2025; Signed by Governor Hobbs 7 May 2025

Issue(s): #CampusProtests, #Trespass, Camping

Kentucky
HB 399: New penalties for protesters at the capitol

Creates serious new criminal offenses that can cover #PeacefulProtesters at the state capitol, as well as anyone who “conspires” with or otherwise supports them. The first new offense applies to someone who enters the capitol, or impedes access to the capitol by a legislator or legislative staff, with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business—regardless of whether legislative business was in fact “impeded.” “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. It is a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to 3 months in jail) for a first incident, and a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail) for subsequent incident. The law creates a second, more serious offense for someone who engages in “disorderly or disruptive conduct” inside the Capitol with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business, if their conduct in fact “disrupts” or “impedes” the legislature’s business—even momentarily. As written, the offense could cover a demonstrator who shouts a single chant during a legislative hearing. “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in jail) for the first incident, and a Class D felony (up to 5 years in prison) for third and subsequent incident. Prior to passing the bill, lawmakers added an amendment which provides that the law will not be construed "to prohibit... [a]ssembly in traditional public forums, including but not limited to the Capitol rotunda and outdoor areas of the Capitol grounds." While helpful, the amendment does not immunize all peaceful protest activity that the law could potentially punish, including protest organizing. When he vetoed the bill (later overridden), Governor Beshear noted the risks it poses to lawful #FirstAmendment activity.
Full bill text:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb399.html

Status: enacted

Introduced 6 Feb 2025; Approved by House 7 March 2025; Approved by Senate 13 March 2025; Vetoed by Governor Beshear 25 March 2025; Veto overridden 27 March 2025

Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Police Response

Texas
#SB2972: New restrictions on #CampusProtests

Requires public colleges and universities to adopt new limitations on campus protests that among other things would ban protest encampments, limit protesters’ ability to wear a mask, and restrict vigils and other demonstrations at night. Under the law—which revises Texas’s 2019 law on campus speech—all public colleges and universities in the state must have policies that among other things prohibit: a) erecting tents or otherwise “camping” on campus; b) wearing a mask or other disguise while engaging in “expressive activities” on campus with certain intent, including intent to “intimidate others;” c) engaging in “expressive activities” between 10pm and 8am; d) engaging in “expressive activities” in the last two weeks of a school term by inviting speakers or using sound amplification or drums; and e) using sound amplification while engaging in “expressive activities” during class hours if it “intimidate[s] others.” Preexisting provisions of the law define “expressive activities” broadly as “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment,” including but not limited to assemblies, protests, speeches, carrying signs, or distributing written material. As such, colleges and universities would seemingly be required to ban all kinds of expression between 10pm and 8am, from conversations in the dining hall to someone sending a text or wearing expressive clothing. The law repeals a provision in the 2019 law that established all common outdoor areas of campus as traditional public forums where anyone could engage in First Amendment activity, and replaced it with a provision authorizing the governing boards of schools to designate select areas as public forums.
Full bill text: https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2972

Status: enacted

Introduced 14 Mar 2025; Approved by Senate 14 May 2025; Approved by House 28 May 2025; Signed by Governor Abbott 20 June 2025

Issue(s): Campus Protests, Face Covering, Camping

#USPol #CriminalizingProtest #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #TexasProtestLaws #KentuckyProtestLaws #ArizonaProtestLaws #ClothingBans #CollegeCampusProtests #MaskBans #EncampmentBans

I was quoted in this Teen Vogue article about mask bans and the harm they pose for the disability community.

This is the kind of inclusive journalism Teen Vogue has been doing for years.

If Bezos purchases them, it’ll be the end to stories about disability, trans rights, immigrant rights etc:

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mask-bans-disabled-people-protest

#uspol #bezos #fascism #journalism #COVIDisAirborne #maskbans #wearamask

Normalize saying "unidentified" kidnappers, cops, etc. rather than "masked":

1) A naked face is only an identity if you can get it on camera and make it viral - which most victims can't. Names, badge numbers or IDs will get us a lot farther than noses.

2) The logic of mask bans kills people.

#COVIDcautious #covidconscious #MaskBans #maskup #ICERaids #AbolishICE #protest #resist #SaltingTheVibe #SaltingTheVibes #yallmasking

You guys, Mamdani was the only Democratic candidate running who categorically opposed mask bans

He was running against an establishment man with name recognition, huge amounts of funding & a history of abandoning the most vulnerable to die of covid

This feels like a huge win for vulnerable people

#uspoli #nyx #fascism #maskbans #disability #mamdani

Please, as mask bans continue to accelerate, we need everyone to wear N95 masks in all public settings, indoors, outdoors, in photos.

I am begging you to put disabled kids survival first. My child cannot mask due to an upper airway restriction, unrepairable open palate and other health complications. We have been homebound for most of their 10 years of life.

It is heartbreaking to witness the forced isolation, ostracism, ableist abuse, and celebration of eugenics culture from the left. We need everyone to be fighting for permanent N95 mask mandates in all medical facilities. #ableism #AntiAbleism #MedicalIndustrialComplex #disabled #maskbans #eugenics

From now on when someone asks me why I'm masking I think I'll just say "solidarity with the protesters who are getting arrested for it."

#stillCOVIDing #covidconscious #COVIDcautious #maskup #maskbans #protest #SaltingTheVibe #SaltingTheVibes #yallmasking

This is why disabled people have been begging you to mask up for years.

This is why we’ve said that mask bans pose a threat to our survival.

This is why we don’t want folks to say ICE agents are “wearing masks”.

Society is being conditioned to see masking as “bad”.

It will kill us.

For more on mask bans, my article from last year when North Carolina passed a state wide ban:

https://www.disabledginger.com/p/north-carolina-passes-hb-237-and

#uspol #fascism #nokings #wearamask #ableism #eugenics #maskbans #abolishice

ICE agents cover their faces with gators, yet in Nassau County you can be arrested for wearing an N95.

It’s not about health. It’s not about crime. It’s about protecting the surveillance state and punishing people with disabilities.

Thankfully no one got arrested for masking, but the fact that an unidentified ICE agent hiding their entire face could legally detain you just for protecting your health is the height of fascism and eugenics.

Great reporting from Mother Jones

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/06/defying-a-ban-long-islanders-masked-up-for-no-kings/

#ice #abolishice #nokings #ableism #eugenics #maskbans #fascism

If you’re going to the No Kings protest in Nassau County, be aware they have a mask ban (including respirators).

The “medical exemption” is 100% police discretion. You have to prove you’re “sick enough” to mask.

Mask bans are the result of people refusing to help disabled folks normalize masking.

If more people had masked for public health, they would have been harder to ban.

We begged for solidarity.

We said we didn’t want to be left by the wayside.

We screamed about the risks of Long Covid.

We referenced ugly laws from the past.

It didn’t matter. Non disabled people wanted to go “back to normal”, and now we’re stuck fighting discriminatory bans.

#nokings #uspol #fascism #disability #maskbans #wearamask #covidisairborne #eugenics #ableism