Catalogue Number
NMLH.2025.22
Object Name
photograph
Place
Whitehall, London, Manchester, UK
People
Tony Baldwinson (photographer), Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP)
Events
Rights Now disabled people's protest 9 July 1994, Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) becomes law 1995
Description
A photograph showing crowds of people in the middle of a tree-lined road in Whitehall, London. Many of the people are wheelchair users, and most people are dressed for hot weather.
This photograph was taken by Tony Baldwinson at the 9 July 1994 'Rights Now' protest where disabled people and their allies were campaigning for an anti-discrimination civil rights law to protect the civil rights of disabled people. Some of the people in the foreground of the photograph are members of the Greater Manchester Coalition of Disabled People (GMCDP), a Manchester based disabled organised disabled people's rights group which was founded in 1985 and still campaigns today.
The protests in 1994 were part of a high pressure campaign to compel the government to introduce civil rights legislation to protect disabled people from discrimination. This campaign led to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 which, while limited in scope, was the first piece of legislation that made some types of discrimination against disabled people unlawful including direct discrimination, requiring service providers to make 'reasonable adjustments' to give disabled people equal access to their services - e.g. it would be a reasonable adjustment to expect a local council to send letters in large print or Braille to visually impaired people on request, or for an employer to ensure staff facilities are wheelchair accessible. The DDA was replaced in 2010 by the Equality Act in England, Scotland and Wales, but the DDA is still the law in Northern Ireland.
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