My Mask

I'd wanted to pose for NOH8 for a while and was excited to have the opportunity to do so when the campaign came to West Hollywood. However, I had a long moment of debate with myself about wearing a mask for my picture. As you see, the mask won. After all, it's part of my everyday attire.

My mask – in this photo, a bright yellow one that always makes me think of a sunshine smile - is a piece of medical equipment for me as a disabled/chronically ill person. I have common variable immunodeficiency, a form of primary immunodeficiency. The easy description: I get sick easily and can't do a great job fighting it. I also have congenital cardiac and respiratory issues, so airborne infections are potentially devastating to me.

"What did you do before the pandemic?" Actually - I wore masks in public places then, too. I was even illustrated wearing a mask for an essay I wrote. And before that I got sick a lot, with truly scary things like typhoid, scarlet fever and pneumonia, that resulted in hearing loss and lung damage.

Instead of rolling your eyes or making a snide comment when you see someone wearing a mask, please consider that the person is just trying very hard to be a part of the world – they just need more protection to do so. There's no shame in that.

~Denise Reich