All This Over Wearing a Mask
Matt Foreman (right), with his husband Francisco.
blamed us. Why did we say
anything? We deserved it. Bullshit!
If we had a president with one
shred of decency, wearing a mask
would have been established
months ago as a moral norm, a
way to show care for others. And,
if that wasn’t enough, not wearing
a mask would be a federal offense
carrying a hefty fi ne. It would not
P E R S P E C T I V E : W h e n P u b l i c H e a l t h I s P o l i t i c i z e d
COURTESY OF MATT FOREMAN
be up to hapless store clerks, fl ight
attendants, and average residents
to enforce the law.
But no.
The issue of wearing a mask has
been weaponized, quite literally,
as witnessed by the blood stains
on our sidewalk and all the other
mask-related violent encounters
we read about every single day.
➤ SCENES OF ACTIVISM, from p.26
ing points to rally at to the Bethesda Fountain
in Central Park.
The following evening, a coalition of activists
led by Brooklyn organizer Selu gathered in
three locations in Brooklyn and Queens and
marched to Madison Square Park in Manhattan
in solidarity with the Get Your Knee Off Our
Necks Commitment March on Washington, organized
by the Reverend Al Sharpton and held
the same day to honor the 57th anniversary of
the 1963 March on Washington. The event in
New York drew groups including Riders4Rights,
Revolting Lesbians, the NYC Dyke March, the
Reclaim Pride Coalition, the Queens Liberation
Project, and Musicians United — NYC.
On Sunday, August 30, Gays Against Guns
gathered in Manhattan’s Union Square for a
Break the Silence gun violence prevention rally.
DONNA ACETO
BY MATT FOREMAN
Three weeks ago, I was
looking down into my
husband’s unblinking
eyes, seeing blood spill
from his nose and mouth, and
feeling my hand trying to stop
the bleeding from the back of his
head.
In the background someone
kept yelling, “Apply pressure! Apply
pressure! Apply pressure!”
For a fl eeting moment, I was
Jackie Kennedy sansthe pink
Chanel suit and matching pillbox
hat.
Why? Because we had just said
to a couple of men passing by us on
the narrow sidewalk on our block,
“Wear a mask!”
In less than a minute, my husband
was hit in the face and the
back of his head with some kind
of weapon and lay unconscious on
the sidewalk.
The NYPD and an NYFD ambulance
arrived quickly. Francisco —
still unable to talk — was taken to
the ER housed in the old St. Vincent’s
Hospital (so many other —
also horrible —memories). I drove
around with police offi cers to “canvass”
the neighborhood and see if I
could ID the perpetrator. Frankly, I
was too hysterical to be of any use
to them. But I will never forget the
kindness the offi cers showed me.
Like most crime victims, I immediately
Vote on November 3 was one key message of the August 30 Breaking
the Silence rally in Union Square.
Meanwhile, an entire sector of
“Christian” leaders has not only
stood silent, they have actively encouraged
mass gathering without
masks.
As my mother would say, “Dear
Jesus!”
I simply cannot believe how far
down our nation has fallen in just
a few years or that there is even a
question about the need for profound
and systemic change. In November,
let’s start at the top.
Epilogue: You should know that
Francisco is doing well — the
staples are out of his head (lovely
scar), no teeth lost, and the symptoms
of his severe concussion seem
to be fading each day. The NYPD
says that while they have obtained
a clear video of the incident, they
haven’t been able to ID the attacker.
If they can, it should be a felony
charge.
Good!
The ambulance and emergency
room bills were just over $12,000.
Because we are among the few
Americans who have good insurance,
our out-of-pocket will be under
$1,000.
Matt Foreman is the former executive
director of the National LGBTQ
Task Force, the Empire State Pride
Agenda, and the New York Gay &
Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. He
resides in New York City and San
Francisco.
DONNA ACETO
Here, a participant at the rally makes the link between gun violence
and the vulnerability of Black lives.
GayCityNews.com | September 10 - September 23, 2020 27
/GayCityNews.com
