Legislators

Becoming a legislator is one of the toughest challenges a deaf individual can undertake. First, it means being in the right place at the right time and winning a seat. Fortunately, in the 21st century, an increasing number of deaf individuals are entering the political arena at the municipal, regional, and national levels. In North America and Europe, deaf individuals have been elected to public office. As the following list reveals, there have been at least 15 deaf people elected to high public office:

• 1.
  Francis Humberstone MacKenzie, Sixth Lord Seaforth, Scotland, 1784
• 2.
  Jack Ashley, MP British Parliament, 1966
• 3.
  Kevin Nolan, City Councillor of Northhampton in Massachusetts, United States, 1986
• 4.
  Gary Malkowski, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) of York East in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 1990
• 5.
  David Buxton, District Councillor in London, England, 1990
• 6.
  Alex Ndeezi, MP Ugandan Parliament, 1996
• 7.
  Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen, MP South African Parliament, 1996
• 8.
  Sigurlin Margret Signuroardottir, MP Icelandic Parliament, 2003
• 9.
  Helga Stevens, MP Flemish Parliament in Belgium, 2004
• 10.
  Dimitra Arapoglu, MP Greek Parliament, 2007
• 11.
  Raghav Bir Joshi, MP Nepalese Parliament, 2008
• 12.
  Adam Kosa, MP European Parliament, 2009
• 13.
  Helene Jarmer, MP Austrian Parliament, 2009
• 14.
  Gergely Tapolczai, MP Hungarian Parliament, 2010
• 15.
  Martin Zierold, District City Councillor of Berlin, Germany, 2011
• 16.
  Mojo Mathers, MP New Zealand Parliament, 2011
• 17.
  Raphael Bouton, District City Councillor of Seine-Saint-Denis, France, 2012

The progress made by deaf legislators in recent years has paralleled the emergence of new rights for deaf people. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on December 13, 2006, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York and was opened for signature on March 30, 2007. There were 82 signatories to the Convention, 44 signatories to the Optional Protocol, and one ratification of the Convention. This is the highest number of signatories in history to a UN convention on an opening day. The Convention is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations. The Convention entered into force on May 3, 2008. To date, 158 countries have signed and 147 countries have ratified it, and 92 countries have signed and 82 have ratified the Optional Protocol. All countries that agree to this Optional Protocol give a UN committee the power to receive and review complaints from individuals or organizations about violations of rights in the agreement. The committee will deal only with complaints from countries that agree to this Protocol. Notably, the United States is not on a list of countries that have ratified the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

[Page 581]Article 29: Participation in Political and Public Life mandates that all member nations ensure that persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in political and public life on an equal basis with others, directly or through freely chosen representatives. This right includes the opportunity for persons with disabilities to vote and be elected. Furthermore, nations are to promote actively an environment in which persons with disabilities can effectively and fully participate in the conduct of public affairs, without discrimination and on an equal basis with others.

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