Couple Living With Down Syndrome Fighting For Marriage Access Bill

A local woman with Down Syndrome is fighting for equal marriage rights. She and her partner would both be at risk of losing their disability benefits if they were legally married.

March 21st is a day to celebrate those in our lives living with Down Syndrome, but to also spread awareness about different challenges they're facing. One being marital rights.

For one couple, it all started with a blind date. 

“It was awesome. He took me to a celebrity basketball game, and he took me to dance, then we went to dinner together,” Heather Hancock-Blackburn said.

Hancock-Blackburn said, from there, love has been in the air ever since.

“He's an intelligent handsome guy and I know in my heart and he's the one I fell in love with,” Hancock-Blackburn said.

Craig Blackburn and Heather Hancock-Blackburn both have Down Syndrome. They, like many people living with Down Syndrome, are fighting for acceptance and inclusion.

“My goal is to live with my husband,” Hancock-Blackburn said.

The couple had a commitment ceremony in 2016. Hancock-Blackburn said if she legally tied the knot, she would lose her disability benefits.

“People out in the world don't understand what Down Syndrome is and who we are. You need to see the person first before the disability,” Hancock-Blackburn said.

The Blackburns live more than 500 miles apart. Craig lives in Louisiana.

“We usually facetime each other or we get on video chat,” Hancock-Blackburn said.

The couple, along with The Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma, are working to change that with a marriage access bill.

“What that bill is, is so that he and her husband Craig can actually live together and be married without common-law marriage. They wouldn't have to relinquish their benefits, their social security and Medicaid because currently, they can't live together. One of them would have to relinquish one of those,” Sarah Soell said.

This is a bill the Blackburns have been fighting for year after year. But Heather said, like love, it's worth fighting for.

Heather and Craig, along with the local organization will be traveling to DC to advocate for this bill in April.