I am a performance artist and actor, and I have long enjoyed the privilege of having a body I can rely on — a true privilege that many of us take for granted in a world that demonstrates time and again that to be differently abled is an inconvenience. However, when your body becomes unreliable without any visible indication, this can throw the world in which you operate into turmoil.
Since March, I have been inundated by the opinions of individuals who assume they can learn all they need to know simply by laying their eyes upon me. Of all the assumptions made about my nation of origin, my romantic life or my level of education, the most harmful is the assumption that my body is reliably immune to a viral disease that has swept the globe.
Essential employees, educators and even customers to my own establishment confide in me their opinions about mask mandates, their assertions masquerading as concerns for freedom when in reality, they are dismissals of the lives of thousands of citizens whose immune systems are too compromised to survive a viral attack such as this.
We need our elected leaders to demonstrate a willingness to defend our most vulnerable communities in a time when our votes count more than ever. Support the post office, allow folks to vote at home in a pandemic and preserve the integrity of our democracy.
Rio Alberto
Anchorage
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