A Resource List
🔗 short link to this page: tiny.cc/resistmaskbans
About this page
Note: This page was originally created to gather resources in spring 2024, in the early days of a new wave of mask ban bill proposals across the U.S. The page is no longer updated, but still contains helpful resources.
Looking for local organizing near you? Currently, these are the best ways to find info on mask ban resistance and right to mask advocacy in the U.S.:
StopMaskBans.com – Map of local organizing campaigns + tools for contacting your reps, created by Fight For the Future
Community action phonebanking sessions to resist mask bans and advocate for mask rights – Hosted by World Health Network
#StopMaskBans toolkit – Includes info for multiple states, Created by Mask Together America
Together we can stop mask bans! We demand the right to protect ourselves & our communities from sickness and surveillance.
Mask ban proposals are being considered in New York, among an increasing list of other cities and states. Speak up today – even if you don’t live in a place considering a ban, we can’t let this dangerous idea become an example for other cities and states.
Note: Resources on this page are shared for reference. This does not imply endorsement by Long COVID Justice.
Analysis, open letters, zines
Some resources are location-specific but could be adapted to your location!
- NEW! Avoiding ableist language as we fight mask bans
- 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 – Sign-on Letter, Statements and more
- Jews For Racial & Economic Justice (JFREJ) Condemns Proposed Mask Ban
- No Mask Bans – Peoples CDC
- The Criminalization of Masking – NashMask4Mask & NourNashville
- Mask Up! We Need You – Palestinian Solidarity, COVID-19 and the Struggle for Liberation from Sheyam Ghieth and Rimona Eskayo
Tips for making calls & planning actions
- 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 (under “Masks Work!” on the linked page)
News coverage & research
Articles
- Mask Bans Insult Disabled People, Endanger Our Health, and Threaten Our Ability to Protest – Alice Wong, TeenVogue
- Masks Are a Symbol of Solidarity. Don’t Let Democrats Take Them Away – Beatrice Adler-Bolton & Artie Vierkant, The Nation
- “Perfect storm” of criminalization: Analyzing mask bans – Justine Barron, The Sick Times
- Mask bans make NY less safe – Jessica Lynn, New Amsterdam News
- States Dust Off Obscure Anti-Mask Laws to Target Pro-Palestine Protesters – ACLU
- Masks are going from mandated to criminalized in some states – Fenit Nirappil, Washington Post
- Mask Bans Grow, Threatening Public Health And Immunocompromised People – Judy Stone, Forbes
- Los Angeles’s Mayor Was Contemplating a Mask Ban. She Just Got Covid. – Edith Olmsted, The New Republic
- Mask bans are growing in popularity. Critics call the trend a ‘dog whistle’ to quell protest. – Marquise Francis, NBC
- Despite Covid surge, Los Angeles mayor considers mask ban at protests – Lois Beckett, The Guardian
- From Mask Mandates To Bans: Some Jurisdictions In U.S. Are Doing A 180 – Joshua Cohen, Forbes
Podcasts
- Mask Bans Are Everyone’s Fight – Death Panel podcast
Studies & Research
Masks work!
- Mask resource page – Peoples CDC
- Articles on mask effectiveness
Studies showing sunglasses have equal or greater effect on facial recognition than masks
- Face masks are less effective than sunglasses in masking face identity.
- Face masks versus sunglasses: limited effects of time and individual differences in the ability to judge facial identity and social traits
- The effect of face masks and sunglasses on identity and expression recognition with super-recognizers and typical observers
Images from our social posts on mask bans
Feel free to repost any of these and tag/credit @LongCOVIDJustice. Click on any image to expand it (or visit the posts on our Instagram or Facebook)
