mimogen @lyncia@pixie.town

Once you understand that safer spaces are impossible, it follows that there's no point in lamenting and denouncing injustices to imagined audiences. There's no one to denounce _to_. The State will never be on our side, and crowds will turn on the marginalised first. Teacher won't be convinced that the bully started it. There's only communicating the threat from a position of hostility: to survive, to dismantle, or to fight back.

That is, it's a mistake to weave an identity on helplessness and oppression olympics. The point of learning about, say, microaggressions, is to become someone able to endure them, to intervene on the spot, or to yell fuck you. If you learned about microagressions and now it's _easier_ for bigots to hurt you, something went wrong. The same goes for macroaggressions. If nazis attack your community centre the lesson isn't to publish endless twitter threads about how scary is the rise of fascism, it's to fundraise for weapons.

"I don't want to fight or be brave" no one who lives through such times *wants* those things. I'm not making a moral injunction here, I'm just saying this is the material condition we find ourselves in the 2020s. I say "we have to get stronger" in the same spirit as I say "we have to take vaccines".

related literature https://thenib.com/this-is-not-fine/

robotgirl that infodumps at 100 gbps

NEW VIDEO - Goth Is White: Pallor, Prejudice and Purity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knrnIY8snKk

probably my nichest-sounding topic yet, but many of the concepts apply more broadly and relate to broader issues. should be something of value here for anyone with any interest in learning about power structures and race dynamics, however wh*te goths are obligated

even by my standards this one might get people’s backs up, so please approach with good faith and be ready for some potential discomfort

this has been a HUGE labour of love (and many other emotions). big thanks for all the encouragement when I was hesitating about it back in April or so, glad I did it in the end 🖤

Ugly laws will be enforced in Louisville. Medical masks will be allowed at “police discretion”.

Police chief says: “We do have to look at behavior of person, what they're doing at time, those kinds of things."

I have a disability that makes me LOOK nervous. I “appear” like I could be doing something wrong. As a result these bans terrify me.

Disabled people have been begging others to mask for years because we were afraid of this exact outcome.

Failure to normalize masking means those of us who NEED to wear them are seen as outliers. Deviants. Possibly criminals. There’s a target on our back.

Medical exemptions are not the answer - they leave too many people behind.

Everyone should have the right to protect themselves from a deadly & disabling virus. Whether already disabled or not.

Banning masks and then saying that the police will determine who is “legit” in wearing one based on their overall behaviour? Its terrifying.

This is exactly HOW profiling occurs. These bans will disproportionately impact marginalized individuals and people of colour.

They could also impact someone with a condition like mine. I’m immune compromised and high risk for Covid complications - so I ALWAYS wear a fitted respirator when I’m outside my home.

I also have dysautonomia - a literal malfunctioning of my autonomic nervous system.

If I’m upright - I “look” nervous. I’m sweaty, shaky, twitchy and sometimes wobbling. I’ve been accused of being drunk in public on MANY occasions.

It’s not my fault - Dysautonomia means I can’t regulate my blood pressure, heart rate, sweating & even pupil dilation.

The things that cops are trained to look for and consider “suspicious” are all symptoms of my disease.

In the past - the worst thing I had to worry about was being accused of public drunkenness. Even THAT was scary for me.

Mask bans mean I could be arrested and charged with a crime. Just for trying to keep myself & others safe.

I tell this story to encourage others to speak up against mask bans. To mask up in solidarity and help us normalize them so they will be harder to ban.

To encourage people to stop assuming if you have a “legitimate medical reason” you won’t have to worry. We DO worry.

We need less judgement, assumptions and gaslighting and more allies. These laws are dangerous. They will lead to more death, disability AND division.

Many of us have difficulty convincing HCWs of our illnesses - what hope do we have with police?

Please - if you CAN mask - now is the time. You don’t have to wait for a mandate or permission. You can choose to say “enough is enough” & be part of the solution. Break chains of transmission. Protect the vulnerable. Don’t allow government to decide who is & isn’t expendable.

We all have power and agency and can choose to do the right thing. We don’t have to sit idly by and accept repeated covid infections & exclusion of disabled people from public life.

Let’s work together and stop these bans before it’s too late.

https://www.wdrb.com/news/louisville-police-chief-clarifies-enforcement-of-anti-mask-ordinance-after-community-concerns/article_bdd6c686-80f2-11ef-9cc6-2b975b47af23.html

#CovidIsAirborne #CovidCautious #CovidIsNotOver #CleanAir #WearaMask #Disability #LongCovid #Ableism #Denial #CleanAir #Pandemic #PublicHealth #InfectionControl #Eugenics #SafeHealthcare #N95 #Respirators #MasksWork #MaskUp #Spoonie #Discrimination #Dysautonomia #mecfs #pots #mcas #communitycare #wearamask #chronicillness #keepmasksinhealthcare #MaskBans #NoMaskBans #UglyLaws