By Andrew Bretherton

This image is inspired by the Honeymoon protest (1988) of Martin Stewart and his then wife Helen. Martin is a disability activist and disabled workers rights advocate. 

Martin was born blind and was made further disabled by the government’s structural inequality. Martin at the time had won a supreme court case against the loss of train guards and conductors because of the safety implications for disabled people. In 2002 when train guards were still absent, Martin lost his arm and leg when he feel between train carriages.

The honeymoon protest advocated for Sexual Equality for Disabled People Worldwide. Martin at the time stated: 

“This is no mere exhibition … The only reason we are doing this is because we want to put an end to the ignorance of society … Nobody should be judged based on disability. There seems to be a widespread assumption that Helen, who does not have a disability, is either my social worker, volunteer, driver or nursemaid… People don’t seem to understand that you also have sexuality. The reason why deinstitutionalisation has occurred is that people have seen that we can do things like other people.” 

Helen argued “We feel the time is long overdue for a provocative protest to confront society’s ignorance.” 

I found this protest particularly significant as this year disabled peoples sexual freedoms and liberation have come under attack, fuelled by the very same ignorances Martin and Helen were protesting against. 

Martin’s activism and story also reminds us how we are not disabled by our impairments or differences, but rather by societies ignorance, and how the removal of accessibility can cause us further harm. It reminds us that we must stay vigilant with liberation of disabled people and disabled rights, as our hard fought progress can be easily rescinded by the ignorance of abled bodied people.