After viewing the last 5 posts, we cannot say that the Deaf and Gay communities have nothing in common.  In fact, as members of oppressed minorities, they share so much in common.   Those who deny this would have to be ignorant, or determinedly oblivious, in light of such enormous evidence!

Let’s review the evidence in a nutshell:

a)   Parental reactions to the initial discovery of the child’s deafness or homosexuality are quite similar.  These negative reactions are reinforced by society’s views.

b)   Both Gay and Deaf people have been systematically marginalized and oppressed through the use of negative medical labels, therapy and technology designed to assimilate them.

c)   Both Deaf and Gay people have to overcome barriers in education, politics and employment/corporate spheres.

d)   Eugenics is becoming an issue once more in this century for the Deaf community, and may soon be an issue for the LGBT community.

All the above parallels between the two communities prove that Suter was correct when she said:

“…We must fight the Third Reich mentality that says the greatest goal is the perfection of the human race.”

Some of you might be offended and outraged by Suter’s reference to the Third Reich mentality.  Some of you may even cry Godwin’s Law and attempt to destroy her credibility along with mine.

The best explanation for Godwin’s Law (which states that As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches) is that when an online debate becomes longer and hotter, someone will call someone else a Nazi, or label a position as Nazism.  When that happens, the debate becomes useless.

Godwin’s point:  “Precisely because such a comparison or reference may sometimes be appropriate… overuse of Nazi and Hitler comparisons should be avoided, because it robs the valid comparisons of their impact.” (Wikipedia)

In other words: Don’t cry wolf.  Remember that story of the boy who cried wolf?  After the first two false alarms, the villagers refused to believe him as he cried out for help when the wolf actually showed up.  That wolf ate him.  This principle applies here.

We are NOT crying wolf.   In my view, The Third Reich mentality applies here since we are dealing with the perception of society that to be deaf and gay, respectively, is to be flawed.

We must ask ourselves this question:

Have we truly progressed much since World War II, where the Deaf, disabled and homosexual people were sent to concentration camps along with the Jews and murdered for not conforming to the eugenicist Aryan master race ideal?

If your answer is “yes”, sit back and reconsider the parallels in the first paragraph of this post, and consider my following words:

True, no one gets sent to concentration camps and murdered because of their “deficiencies” today.   However, the Deaf continue to receive the disability label and are therefore considered a burden on society.  An entire establishment is created to systematically suppress, if not crush, ASL as a language and culture in the quest to rehabilitate Deaf children.

A great number of Deaf children are raised to become “listening and speaking” adults without ASL or Deaf role models.  They are assimilated into the majority society using cochlear implant technology and AVT, regardless of cost in terms of actual language and literacy development when technology and therapy fail to benefit.  It must be noted that a minority of North American parents buck this trend and ensure that their children receive both ASL and English languages and cultures, regardless of whether technology is used or not.

Eugenics is becoming an issue as we have seen in the U.K.  When Deaf adults and children do not fit the societal ideal of the perfect hearing, able-bodied human being, they are treated as second-class citizens.

The Gay community continues to struggle for rights in the USA, despite having tossed out the mental disorder label.  There are places in North America where homosexuality is still unofficially labeled as deviant.  Therapy continues to be offered with the goal of helping Gay people conform to the heterosexual ideal.  Therefore, members of the Gay community continue to be treated like second-class citizens simply because they still do not fit the societal ideal (master race).

I reiterate that because both groups do not fit society’s ideal that consists of able-bodied, hearing, heterosexual human beings, they get labeled as disabled, mental and moral misfits and/or burdens on society.  They are given labels by professionals in the medical, education and political systems to mark them for rehabilitation.

However, there is a way we can combat the negative labeling given by the majority, as Suter suggests:

“… There is also a paradox to labels. They can also be a language of empowerment. For years, professionals tried to label deaf people as hearing-impaired. Almost every major piece of disability legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, incorporated the term hearing impaired. It was thought to be a more sensitive, more neutral term than the word deaf.

Unfortunately, to the deaf community, it wasn’t considered to be a culturally sensitive term. They rebelled. As a community, they claimed ownership to the definition they preferred — deaf. They weren’t about to let outsiders, even well-meaning professionals, define what they would be called. The deaf community saw power in labels. They were determined to be the ones defining who they were. And they’ve won.”

Gradually, rehabilitation professionals have given way to their lobbying efforts. Now the word preferred by the people it represents is being used. The moral is if you have to be labeled — you have the right to choose the label you want.”

The Deaf may have won the right to label themselves as DEAF, and the LGBT community may have destroyed their medical label, but the fight against being treated like second-class citizens is not yet over.  The Third Reich mentality inherent in society at large looms like a Goliath over both communities.

The Gay community’s successful removal of the oppressive mental disorder label against them teaches us an important lesson.

We, the Deaf, are David.  We must put that stone in our sling. Twirl that sling and throw that stone directly into Goliath’s head.  Then, the Third Reich mentality WILL fall.   (That fall may take a long time.  But, remember: the higher they are, the harder they will fall.)

QUESTION:  What is the best stone to use in our sling?

ANSWER: the destruction of the medical/disability label.

Once we remove that medical label, we can make changes in the way society views us.  We must educate the public and politicians on ASL and Deaf culture.  We must emphasize the importance of bilingualism for Deaf children in education, especially in early childhood.

We can lobby for Deaf children to be removed from the umbrella of Special Education, and placed in the cultural and linguistic category under the umbrella of multiculturalism.  Only then will Deaf children be given FULL access through bona fide languages (ASL and English, for example).

Only then can the Deaf community truly begin their cultural and linguistic renaissance.  An ASL phoenix would finally rise from the ashes of attempted linguistic and cultural genocide that result from audism spawned more than 128 years ago.