Thread by @BlokeOnWheels

Happy #ValentinesDay2023 lovely people! 🧵

As many of you will most likely know, I have never had a partner of any description in my entire life, mainly as a result of laws governing joint income for people in receipt of social security. I have long been campaigning to… 1

change these laws and that fight is still ongoing. However this thread is not about an explanation of the laws and the general consequences, you can read more about that in the piece that I will link at the bottom, although it will be slightly outdated for reasons which…2

I will shortly explain. For the past two years, ever since I began the #RightToLove campaign, it was my belief that it would be better for me not to seek a life partner for several reasons. The first being that I didn’t want to risk becoming financially dependent on her…3

and the second being that I didn’t want to ever put another person in the position where they would be expected to completely financially support me just because we happen to love each other and be in a relationship. I didn’t think that was fair and I still don’t. 4

However, over the last few weeks I have come to realise that there is something missing in my life. I’ve always thought that my amazing family and fantastic Twitter community were enough, now I understand that they are not. I have periodically had similar thoughts before…5

when the prospect of me potentially being single forever has quietly eaten away at my soul. This time is different, on all previous occasions, I had managed to put such feelings back in the little mental box they came from, now, the lid refuses to go back on. 6

In other words I have realised that I fundamentally need to find the love and companionship that can only be provided by a romantic life partner, if I carry on denying this truth to myself for a single day longer, I fear the effects on my mental health will be devastating. 7

So the question then becomes, how do I get around the rules on joint income while managing to avoid fraud charges and a potential prison sentence. The only thing I can think of would be to find somebody willing for us not to cohabit until these laws are changed 8

That might seem a difficult proposition, but I genuinely do not see another way out of this. I cannot allow things to continue as they currently are for the reasons I’ve explained above, but to live with a partner would create the very situation…9

I have tried to avoid by not having one before now. This is why the law is so wrong, it penalises nonworking disabled people for falling in love. Now I know joint income rules also apply to nondisabled Social Security recipients, but the key difference in that case…10

is that both partners have the ability to work and provide for the household, whereas that is not possible in situations where one partner cannot work due to having a disability or health condition which makes employment unviable. Now it may be possible to meet a partner who..11

is perfectly willing to be the sole source of my financial support. But that raises two questions. The first being: what if circumstances change in the future? While the second is more fundamentally: am I willing to let her. To be honest, I still don’t think I am. 12

You might be wondering why am telling you all this, well I just wanted to give you all an insight into the mental anguish that I and no doubt many other disabled people in a similar situation are feeling. The current laws make it seem like…13

we aren’t worthy being allowed to have a fully equal relationship unless we have economic worth to society. This is the problem with the current system it is based on the predication that only that which can generate profit has value. There is no account taken…14

for the intrinsic worth of every human and the rights that come with it, whether or not we can work. Now many of you know that I’ll never stop fighting to change this, but I have come to the realisation that waiting until that happens is simply not an option for me anymore. 15.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you so very much for reading, and thank you for being an amazingly supportive community which has allowed me to feel that I can post such a deeply personal piece. I love you all. Please feel free to share widely. #DisabilityRights 16

Link to previous article mentioned above 17

docs.google.com/document/d/1zy…

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