Page 16 - Community Living Magazine 31 - 2

LIVING A LIFE: MARRIAGE
e o e went ahead, and also suggested that
their vicar could fnd himself in legal
trouble if he performed the ceremony.
i o love The wedding eventually

went ahead, with great
success, afer interventon
by Mencap and the citng of a
legal precedent from Shefeld
of a couple with learning
disabilites who married in 2004.
The local authority, in typical
sterile jargon, stated:
“We consider every case on
an individual basis. We work
closely with clients, their
families and professionals
to ensure that any
recommendatons are fully
informed, and consider the
feelings of those involved.”

A RIGHT TO FALL IN LOVE
Who would have thought
they were talking about a
wedding? As Sarah’s mother
commented in more recognisably human
terms: “My daughter had a right to fall in
love like anyone else.”
As Henny Beaumont sees it
What a contrast all of this is with the
i on a e considers marriage, another fronter for people joyful wedding of Polly Gibson and
Joe Minogue, both of whom have
with learning disabilites to conquer in their fght to live the Down’s syndrome, in 2016.
same lives as the rest of us. Getng married can be a legal Their spectacular wedding in Surrey
minefeld or, as the ‘unicorn wedding’ of Polly Gibson and featured a Unicorn throne – thus earning
it the ttle ‘The Unicorn Wedding’ – and
Joe Minogue showed, it can also be spectacularly joyful. was a riot of colour and joyous support
from families and friends.
e i o a o u licl e ess Daniel were classifed as having severe
Tou love o a a ne an a a less learning disabilites. Local services in Photographs from the wedding went viral,
o antc level o ac ui e e le al i s Poole, Dorset threatened that Daniel afer frst being featured on the wedding
a acco an e o al a ia e could face criminal charges if he blog Rock n Roll Bride.
ocess is so e in we ake o Polly and Joe were
an e . ea s i es ave een a e featured on the BBC,
in ecen ea s in e a ena o sin le The Sun, The Daily Mirror,
se a ne s i s al ou o cou se Good Housekeeping, Italian
e e is stll a wa o o. Vogue, and in online
publicatons across the world,
However, for people with learning including America, Japan,
disabilites, the right to marry is stll Australia and France.
not a given. Belinda Schwehr reports Millions shared in the joy of
elsewhere in this issue (page 10-11) the occasion.
on just how complex issues of
consent can be, not only before Wedding photographer Leela
but even afer marriage. Bennet told Community Living
that she was asked to
In 2014 The Guardian cover this wedding
reported on the case of Polly and Joe’s spectacular wedding in because she had been
Sarah Thompson Drayton who, with her Surrey featured a Unicorn throne – thus the photographer at
family, had to fght a year-long batle to earning it the ttle ‘The Unicorn Wedding’ Polly’s sister’s wedding, where Polly had
marry her partner Daniel Drayton as – and was a riot of colour and joyous been a bridesmaid. The family had been
local adult care services tried to stop support from families and friends. impressed at the way she had responded
them from marrying. Both Sarah and to Polly in the same way as she had

14 Vol 31 No 2 | Winter 2017 Community Living www.cl-initatves.co.uk