COLORADO — Despite the rapidly accelerating and dire public health crisis in the US, some citizens seem to think that their freedoms are being squashed by wearing a piece of cloth in front of their faces. The Covid Face Mask has become a political issue somehow.
The Point: The “Face Mask Exempt Card” circulating in multiple places over the past few days is a pretty obvious fake — distributed by the FTBA or Freedom To Breathe Agency, which is an absolute sham. Their website, ftbagency.com, is a dead Wix site that was registered just last week. The DOJ seal on the card is also illegal, especially in the case of using federal markings to command false authority.
As far as the laws the card itself references, the ADA allows a business to refuse service or employment to a person with a disability if their presence would result in a “direct threat” to the health and safety of others, and the threat cannot be eliminated through reasonable accommodation.
Based on COVID-19 guidance from the CDC and other global health organizations, persons not wearing a face mask pose a direct threat to the safety of customers and employees, so they can be prohibited from entering the store. However, there are other reasonable ways customers who cannot wear masks could be accommodated — such as curbside pickup of their items. So stores are required to serve disabled customers who can’t wear masks, but they aren’t required to serve them in a way that threatens others.
Zero Federal or State level authorities have issued “exempt” cards to anyone regardless of condition or mental state.
The Subtext: This is a symptom of a larger issue. Sure, there is a small group of people out there using these cards because they don’t feel like wearing a mask. It’s yet another expression of how entitled some people can truly be. But it’s an indicator that many don’t feel like COVID is a real threat anymore, and instead of expressing it, they are choosing to hide behind fake authority to avoid confrontation and consequence.