{"id":215707,"date":"2019-12-21T14:38:12","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T20:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=215707"},"modified":"2019-12-20T11:05:53","modified_gmt":"2019-12-20T17:05:53","slug":"peruvian-man-first-person-down-syndrome-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/peruvian-man-first-person-down-syndrome-office\/","title":{"rendered":"Peruvian man could be the first person with Down syndrome elected to public office"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bryan Russell, age 27, is running for office in Peru. Previously the first person with Down syndrome in Peru to get a university degree<\/a>, he’s now looking to take on corruption in his country. In the process, he may become the first person in the world with Down syndrome to ever run for public office.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Associated Press<\/a>, Russell explained that he wants to prove that people with Down syndrome can be independent, breaking the stereotype many people continue to hold. \u201cI’m someone clean, honest, transparent,\u201d he said. Russell, who studied communications at the Peruvian San Ignacio de Loyola University, is running as a candidate for Peru-Nacion, a center-right party. Yet he’s reaching out to people of all political leanings, including liberals, asking them to stand up for people like him. \u201cI want people with my condition to have a voice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n