How are disabled and interracial illegal???
Interracial marriage was outlawed for the longest time, and disabled people lose government benefits when they get married so they cannot have reassurance that they will continue to LIVE if they get married.
Story time: my mom is white, dad is black. They’ve been together twenty four years, married for twenty three. When my parents were dating they did it on the low TO KEEP MY DAD SAFE.
My mom’s parents said “We don’t care who you love.” At that point she’d only ever brought home white guys. She brought my dad home-her mother called her a nigger lover and damned the relationship as much as possible. Her father grew around his prejudices after I was born but never apologized, just wasn’t a blatant fuck.
The day she introduced my father to her family was the last time she spoke to her mother for over twenty years. When I was getting sick and she called and asked her mother and grandmother if anyone in the family had anything strange happen similar what I was going through they told her “it’s because you married a black man. You made your bed, you lie in it.”
Cops pulled them over all the time and asked my mom IF SHE WAS OKAY AND IF SHE NEEDED HELP BECAUSE MY FATHER-A BLACK MAN-WAS DRIVING A 100 POUND WHITE WOMAN AROUND. HE WAS HARRASSED AND THREATED WITH ARREST.
My father ended up getting into a fight in self defence because some entitled hick decided he didn’t like seeing a black man and white woman in the bar together. Thankfully other patrons helped my father but he still couldn’t go to the er for his injuries. My mom patched him up and they were terrified the cops would take him away.
THEIR BEST FRIEND GOT LICENSED TO MARRY THEM SO THEY COULD ACTUALLY TIE THE KNOT BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE WOULD AND CITED JIM CROW ERA LAW AS TO WHY.
When shopping with just me my father wouldn’t hold my hand if there was a group around. Why? I’m far lighter than him and people had stopped and asked him “whose child is that?” Or “little girl where’s your parents?” and were stunned when I grinned and pointed at my dad and proudly proclaimed “my daddy’s right here.” You know where else mixed kids couldn’t hold their parents hands? Apartheid South Africa. We live in fucking FLORIDA.
So yeah. Some history for you.
This post was made in October 2018. The above poster’s parents met in 1994. We were a generation removed from the Civil Rights movement and this was happening.
when my parents got married in 1979, they had to check to make sure they could legally do it at their intended venue
why?
my mom has epilepsy, and in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, several states passed laws banning people with epilepsy- among other disabilities -from marrying
(luckily the state in question had removed the law from the books, but just the fact that it was a concern is appalling)
And it’s SO important to remember these things. People on tumblr often somewhat remember life before Hodges v. Obergefell, but many were kids. And that was just 4 years ago. Loving v. Virginia, the case that allowed interracial marriage, was argued in 1967. My mom was 9. She’s a Boomer and I’m a Millennial. This was NOT that long ago. But by not framing it like that, it’s easy for people for whom it’s always been law to not realize how recent it was.
Storytime! I am disabled. In my province I am on a disability pension. The pension covers drugs, eye care, dental and gives me a monthly salary ($900) to live on -laughable in today’s economy.
In order to get the pension you need to report all earnings to prove that you actually need money to live on (you’re not a billionaire who could support yourself without the pension). If you earn too much (and by working too much I mean full-time minimum wage means you earn too much) you will lose the pension. BUT! The pension also takes into account a spouses income as it’s assumed that my spouse and I would support each other and share funds. This means that if I marry someone -even if that person is also working minimum wage ($14.00 an hour) -at I/we have too much money and I will be disqualified for my pension. So persons on the pension have had to make the choice. Get married, lose the pension and maybe just having 1 income will keep you both afloat, or don’t get married and keep your pension.
On another note there’s this where a guardian can just decide you’re not intelligent enough to be married.
link to story here
Or Children’s Aid might just decide to take your child
link to story here
An article on marriage equality here from the Center for Disability Rights
True marriage equality must include disabled persons.
