Deaf Community - Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gay Community

The deaf gay community is so large that it has its own web sites, magazines, ezines, and discussion lists.

Deaf Gay Websites

The first stop in the gay community on the internet has traditionally been DeafQueer.Org, the website of the Deaf Queer Resource Center (DQRC). The DQRC is host to a site devoted to deaf people who have passed from AIDS, www.deafaids.info.An e-zine, Flash, is published by the DQRC.

Deaf Gay Organizations

The largest deaf gay organization is the Rainbow Alliance of the Deaf. The RAD has chapters across the United States. For example, theCapitol Metropolitan Rainbow Allianceis theD.C. metro area deaf gay association. It has its own mailing list, The CMRAZoom.Still another is the Gay and Lesbian Association of the Deaf - East, an organization for deaf gays and lesbians on the East coast. There is even one for deaf bears and cubs, gays who prefer hairy gays.

Social Service Organizations

The Deaf Gay and Lesbian Center (DGLC) of San Francisco meets the social service needs of the deaf gay community in the San Francisco Bay area. The DGLC provides counseling, employment assistance, community education, and other services.

People in the Deaf Gay Community

Raymond Luczak is an openly gay deaf man who has edited and published an anthologybook about being deaf and gay, Eyes of Desire: A Deaf Gay and Lesbian Reader. (This book is out of print. The ISBN is 1-55583-204-0). Luczak is also a filmmaker.

Another well-known deaf gay person is Dragonsani Renteria, who founded DeafQueer.org. I actually met him before he had his sex change operation from female to male.

International Deaf Gay Community

Outside of the United States, there are deaf gay and lesbian organizations and websites. A few:

• Australia - Australian Deaf Gay and Lesbian Association
• France - Association Culturelle des Gays et Lesbiennes
• South Africa - Deaf Association for Gays of Suothern Africa
• United Kingdom - Deaf Gay UK