After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disability

After being elected to Valencia’s regional assembly, Galcerán says she wants to be seen as a person, not for her disability

For decades she battled to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities were part of the conversation. The extent of the progress she had made, however, was laid bare recently when Mar Galcerán became Spain’s first parliamentarian with Down’s syndrome.

“It’s unprecedented,” the 45-year-old told the Guardian. “Society is starting to see that people with Down’s syndrome have a lot to contribute. But it’s a very long road.”

Her feat has been decades in the making. When Galcerán was 18 years old, she joined the conservative People’s party (PP) after being attracted to what she described as its embrace of tradition.

Slowly she worked her way up the party apparatus. Her commitment paid off last May when she was added as the 20th name on the list of candidates the PP was fielding in Valencia’s regional elections.

  • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.worldEnglish
    83·
    10 maanden geleden

    So it’s not incredibly ironic that the down syndrome politician is part of the political ideology that hates any kind difference in people?

    Also it’s not incredibly ironic that a person with a disease that commonly causes lower intelligence is a conservative?

    Get off your high horse, sometimes you just have to laugh at the ironies and hypocrisies of our species.

    The only sad part of this is that she’s probably being used in some way by her fellow conservatives, even just having her vote the way they tell her to is a benefit to them.