John Franklin "Frank" Stephens (born April 9, 1982) is an American disability advocate, actor and athlete. He has

Down syndrome Down syndrome or Down's syndrome, also known as trisomy 21, is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual dis ...

and has often acted as a spokesman for those with the genetic disorder. He is an ambassador for Global Down Syndrome Foundation and represented the Foundation at the first US congressional hearing for Down syndrome research.

Early and personal life

Stephens was born April 9, 1982, to Cornelia and John. He is from

Fairfax Fairfax may refer to: Places United States * Fairfax, California * Fairfax Avenue, a major thoroughfare in Los Angeles, California * Fairfax District, Los Angeles, California, centered on Fairfax Avenue * Fairfax, Georgia * Fairfax, Indiana * Fa ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Advocacy

Stephens has been a public spokesman for those with Down syndrome for many years. In October 2012, he wrote an open letter to

Ann Coulter Ann Hart Coulter (; born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative media pundit, author, syndicated columnist, and lawyer. She became known as a media pundit in the late 1990s, appearing in print and on cable news as an outspoken critic of ...

about her use of slurs against mentally disabled people when referring to then-US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

. Coulter refused to apologize, and Stephens spoke publicly to

Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; né O'Meara; born 30 March 1965) is a British broadcaster, journalist, writer, and television personality. He began his Fleet Street career in 1988 at '' The Sun''. In 1994, aged 29, he was appointed editor of the ...

as a result of the publicity. In 2016, he received the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award from the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, after the Coulter incident and a discussion that year with comedian Gary Owen about an offensive routine. In September 2017, he joined Global Down Syndrome Foundation t
testify
before the US Congress on the importance of Down syndrome research and talked about abortion of fetuses with Down syndrome, arguing it is immoral. One of his most famous lines was “If you take one thing away from today, I want you to know that I am a man with Down syndrome and my life is worth living.” Stephens received what is believed to be the first and only standing ovation at a congressional briefing and his testimony on C-Span went viral receiving well over 1M views. Today he is also the Ambassador for the Foundation and represents the organizations at many research and medical care conferences and workshops.

Acting

Stephens has acted in multiple plays for ArtStream, a local theater group. He has also had roles in feature-length films including ''Touched by Grace'' and ''Dawn''.

Special Olympics

Stephens has competed in the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

in equestrian events. He is also on the board of Special Olympics Virginia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stephens, Frank Actors with Down syndrome American disability rights activists Actors from Fairfax, Virginia Living people 1982 births