Free Republic

What happens when you cross a deviant misogynistic sexual fetish with people who are intellectually disabled? You get a sexually exploitative nightmare that is the equivalent to a turn-of-the-century freak show. As the mother of a son with Down Syndrome, I am all too aware of the challenges my son will face. Mostly, I am afraid of how other people will treat him. Even before he was born, he was discriminated against for having an extra chromosome. I was encouraged by the medical community to abort him. The world sees him as a burden and I just see him as...

“Political power, properly so called, is merely the organized power of one class for oppressing another.” - Karl Marx, The Communist Manifesto Controversy is swirling around an art event in Grand Rapids. An art festival is bringing a Down’s syndrome drag show from Britain, called Drag Syndrome, to town. The controversy isn’t aimed at Daniel Vais the London-based group’s founder and artistic director. Nor is it aimed at DisArt, the group organizing their Grand Rapids appearance but rather at Peter Meijer, the owner of the venue who has decided he doesn’t wish to make his establishment available for this...