Friday, June 1, 2012

Dear NADQ (National Association of the Deaf Queers)



Dear NADQ (National Association of the Deaf Queers),

I apologize for my tardiness in the coming but I was able to catch a whiff of what has just developed over at NAD on the subject of queer deaf people.  I thought it was rather interesting because I didn't know that NAD had a vested interest in people's sex lives or people's sexual lifestyles.  I've read some of the pro-active queer advocates who wrote letters to NAD, encouraging them to recognize and support their sexual lifestyles.  I read them with an open mind and heart but I could not connect the two.  The logic was simply not there.

I'm not sexist. I do not discriminate against those who prefers a different sexual lifestyle.  The choice is theirs but does that mean I have to be a conformist and approve their lifestyle?  No, it does not. I can disapprove their lifestyle but yet respect their choices.  I see queer people's desperate effort to confuse the two. If you don't approve their lifestyle then you're a sexist...  if you don't approve then you hate them... if you don't approve then you are against them.  This is far from the truth.  I don't hate them and I do not disrespect them.  It's just that I do not agree with practices of sodomity.  So, kindly do yourself a favor and don't take my comments out of context.

By recognizing deaf queers NAD has just invited quagmire and basically dug their own grave.  Allow me to explain why.  When we were born, we came in the form of human beings before we were anything else.  This much is assured.  It mattered very little whether we were males or females. When a new human being is being born, there was a great cause for celebration. And then human nature would kick in and we'd become piqued about the sex of the baby.  Male?  Female?  It was no longer sufficient being a simple human being. People's quest for power would kick in almost instantly and seek baby's second identity, that of male or female.  This is done for the sake of power hungry society.  Although their initial intentions might be good but it actually pits down the female as the less superior being and the male as the superior being. Worse yet, it became some kind of 'male over female' tradition. That is where and how we have shamed ourselves and our beings. Later on in life we begin to feel insufficient and powerless with our original identity as a human being and then we begin to feel insufficient and powerless with our second identity as a male or a female.  So, what do we do next?

People would begin to seek their third and fourth identities in search for greater power that would make them something more than the rest of human beings. It was no longer sufficient or satisfactory being a simple human beings and no longer sufficient being a simple male or a female.  That's where deaf identity kicks in for some people who could not hear.  Aha... now they believed that they were something special and that it would separate them from the rest of human beings. They formed advocacy based organizations to protect their civil rights as deaf people as if they lacked their first and basic rights as human beings.  Remember, they didn't feel that being 'human beings' were satisfactory enough. And then they didn't feel that being a male or female were satisfactory enough.  They staked a claim on "deafness" and called themselves "deaf", as in their third identity because they wanted something more. They saw it as a form of 'new power' that was up for grabs.  Now that they have three identities, what next?

They develop their skills and talents.  They get their education and then they become specialists and professionals in their own rights.  Let's say this 'power hungry' human being turned into a female being, turned into a deaf person became a teacher.  She is now a teacher and prefers to be seen as teacher because it represented greater 'status' in the society.  Such notion lead people to think and believe that a simple human being is now a lesser being.  It also lead people to think and believe that male and female beings are also lesser beings.  It also lead us to our quest for deaf identity when we were younger.  But it didn't stop there.  We became culturally and linguistically Deaf people who think and believe that being a simple deaf person is a lesser being. And yet this pursuit and hunger for greater status and power does not end there.

That is when, where and how we've become destructive and done more harm than good for our beings.  It's becoming a competitive world where dogs would begin to eat dogs. You see a lot of this in the deaf community these days.

This begs the question.  How far do we really want to go with our never-ending hunger for greater status and power?  NAD was never about anything else but civil rights of deaf people. It has nothing to do with their race, age, gender or sexual lifestyle. Not long ago I could walk into NAD if I choose to and participate just because I was deaf.  That would have sufficed.  It may not be sufficient today.  I almost have to be culturally and linguistically Deaf.  NAD hosts this mentality that it's better to be culturally and linguistically Deaf. Otherwise you are not deaf enough. This brings me to the underlying point... the term 'deaf' is now seen as a lesser being than 'Deaf'.  In this power-hungry society one has to be something more than the rest of the crowd. So what comes next after being culturally and linguistically Deaf?  Deaf Queers!  The birth of Deaf Queers made possible by NAD.

NAD's message is, Deaf Queers are something even more special.  Pretty soon, if not already, Deaf people in general will be seen and noted as a lesser beings due to influx of new identity, that of Deaf Queers. Oh, how special they are. All the more power to them. Congratulations. Apologies to Deaf people in general but you are no longer special.  No longer the focus of NAD because your sexual lifestyle do not promote or practice sodomity. If you wish to be recognized and respected in a special way by NAD then you need to reconsider your sexual lifestyle.  

Am I supposed to walk into NAD and say I'm a Deaf (culturally and linguistically deaf) Great Basin Buckaroo? Does that give me a greater power and footing within NAD?  Does that give me a greater status than the rest of the Deaf, deaf people and Deaf Queers?  How many Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo are out there?  None according to my knowledge.  That makes me extremely special!  Even more special than Queer deaf people. I believe I deserve the recognition from NAD for being the only Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo in this nation.  I deserve the civil rights protection as a Deaf Great Basin Buckaroo and I demand it now.  Recognize me!

I mean, where does it end?  Is it not sufficient to say we are human beings first before we're anything else?  Is it not enough to recognize ourselves as deaf people whether we've been culturally and linguistically raised?  Why do we continue to marginalize ourselves as Human Beings?  Why do we marginalize deaf organization and reject deaf people that were not linguistically and culturally Deaf?  And especially now, why are marginalizing Deaf people in favor of Deaf Queers? I mean, what does NAD have to do with Deaf people's sex lives?

In short, everybody's world just became smaller.  It will become even smaller when the Deaf Queers begin to find it unsatisfying with their so-called "queer" identity. What identity will they seek next?  It won't matter because whatever they decide to do they are going to continue to marginalize themselves.  This is a recipe for self destruction.

And NAD did not see this coming?  Pretty soon, if not already, NAD is turning into NADQ.  Who knows what the future has in store for them. All the more reason for me not to join and become a member. I know I won't be treated fairly there because I'm not queer. Heck they may even start "not queer enough" saga in the future.  This whole thing is so unfortunate.  We lost NAD when they meddled with Deaf people's sex lives.  I just don't see what our ears, our deafness, our deaf culture and language might have to do with our sex lives.  This is beyond stupidity.  No pun intended.

17 comments:

  1. I wasn't aware NAD's agenda involved sex lives. How about getting NAD involved in the 1965 Mustang Fan Club? I'd love that too.

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  2. Gay areas are a no-no area for me, I admire your bravery venturing into that area. I think the whole gender thing totally distracts attention from the deafness frankly. In the UK it has developed along the lines of 'gay issues first' and 'Deaf issues' last. The fact every word you utter of concern' gets you labelled homophobic has mostly meant deaf avoid the whole thing to prevent argument. Mostly we pay lip-service to Gay things and move on....it's far too confrontational and deaf can do without it.

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  3. MM, I think that what has happened in UK is beginning to happen here. The majority of Deafhood Foundation leaders are queers. The majority of people who stalk and hate me are queers, or so I've noticed. And now they've taken NAD hostage with 'gay issues first' and 'Deaf issues last'. I'm by no means a homophobic. I have numerous gay and lesbian friends from the school days and from meeting them through the years. I don't condemn them or hate them for their lifestyles. I just do not agree with sodomity part. And no, I don't have to comform in order to please them.

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    1. Interesting to note in the GB many deaf activists are (I cannot use the same term you do because we get called homophobic if we use the Q word here.), of that persuasion and many leading deaf activists who are straight are aligning with Gay people and areas, frankly this deters many other deaf from supporting the campaigns. I think there is some Kudos (!) and some logic in Supporting Gay areas because their lobby is more powerful than the deaf one, but I don't support that logic myself. At the end of the day Gays are about themselves first and everyone else's view last it seems. I share your view basically, and no I don't conform to it either. I adopt the policy on no comment or inclusion at all on my blog, I don't need the hassle, or the personal attacks many Gays launch at others either. Their lobby is too powerful and needs to be challenged. It has created an pecking order of rights in the UK already.

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    2. I've never called them queers and didn't think it was an appropriate term to use until a Pro-GLBT advocate wrote to NAD and called themselves queers. Upon seeing that I respected her choice of word and used it. Before I used it I double checked with google and found out that GLBT people often refer themselves as queers. If they're offended then they have themselves to blame. What you're seeing in UK is beginning to happen here in the States. I think we could learn from UK and become prepared for what's yet to come here at the States. Thank you for finding some courage to share it with us.

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  4. I don't agree with you , my thought, why NAD invited anti-gay Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard. That guy will turn off many attendances or members of NAD . Bobbie Beth.Scoggins did right thing to made apology toward Gay attendances or members.
    NAD should be diversity not Ultra- Conservative Christian right . Give me a break!
    FYI, I born gay!

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  5. Of course you're saying it because you were born gay. I didn't say you were born straight. Did I? I'm saying NAD has nothing to do with people's sex choices and lifestyles. This blog has nothing to do with Republican Governor Dennis Daugaard. I didn't even mention him in this blog. This blog is about NAD's statement on Deaf queers. Are you aware of it? If so, it's a separate issue and has nothing to do with Governor Daugaard. And since you brought him up, he was going to NAD convention to speak on politics and teach us how to work with legislative branches on creating new laws. He was not going to give speech on the subject of GLBT.

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  6. Yeah, you did not mention Governor Dennis Daugaard on this blog otherwise you accused NAD to give special treatment to Gay people because NAD booted him from give the speech at the conference . Now, you got upset and wrote this blog to express your frustrating toward gay people's special treatment. We are not "sub-culture", we are people like you so treat us fair.

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  7. No Lavender 16. I was not aware of Governor Duagaard's decision not to attend while I was writing this blog. I submitted this blog into deafread at the same time when NAD did. Both of our blogs were published in DeafRead during the same hour. So, no I was not aware of Governor's decision and NAD's announcement while I composed this blog.

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  8. Lavender16, where did I say that you were people of sub-culture? Where did I say that you were not people like us?

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  9. Lavender16, don't get me wrong. I could care less of GLBT gained control over NAD and turned it into NADQ. I'd be perfectly fine with that since I've always said that they have never really represented deaf people in general. They're made of elitist deaf people. False representation is what they have mastered. GLBT would be doing me a huge favor if they could really seize the control of NAD. They can have it since they're pretty much useless to most deaf people I know. Maybe GLBT will put NAD to a better use and turn it into NADQ. That will set us free, as in being NAD-Free. No more false representation. NADQ would exempt their representation for straight people like me. Believe me. GLBT is doing the deaf people a huge favor by infiltrating NAD. GLBT may be the Trojan Horse we've all been hearing about.

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  10. Well said, Barry.

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  11. Okay I got it.
    Check out BigBenfactor's vlog. He lighted me up so I recommend to watch his vlog . I think he is so funny.

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  12. Lavender, I already did. He's a funny guy. I enjoyed his video. Thanks for your feedback. Have a great day.

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  13. Good Blog Barry,

    I agreed that we should never mix something into same jug. Let me tell a bit about hunting, I went to a hunting club and they have their own code of ethic and that is where we need to pay respect to many non-hunter out there. If we pay respect to them therefore we can continue hunting without their complains. For instance, put huge antler of moose probably 8 feet across on top of your truck to show off and a line of dripping blood from your pick up truck on the road. Is that okay, of course not, that will encourage non-hunter to fight and will always attempt to close us down. We are encourage to keep carcass and antler covered and pay respect to non-hunters or animal activities.

    GLBT should do same, they claimed that they need to be left alone and they can do anything they want at their own corner of every cities. I recall long time ago that they protested and requested us to leave them alone and they can continue their business. They would remain to their gay community at one spot. Now they are doing a good job spreading their behaviour around which is not acceptable therefore we have our rights to complain and request to shut them down.

    NAD stands for National Association of the Deaf therefore they should stick to deaf community.

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    1. "NAD stands for National Association of the Deaf therefore they should stick to deaf community."

      My point entirely, and the response are clearly anger because of that suggestion. Which tends to prove the point about the Gay agenda.

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  14. Good points, Cavvy. The hunting analogy you used was perfect. Abusive hunting behaviors will only backfire and hurt people who have to hunt to put food on the table. I do see GLBT crossing people's boundaries and I see many people afraid of their intimidating behaviors. They've turned into some kind of beasts. And now we're losing NAD to queers. It won't be long before NAD becomes NADQ, for and about deaf queers. No longer about deaf people. Thanks for sharing this hunter analogy. It might help others understand my blog better. ; )

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