Anaheim’s Treatment of Deaf Pageant Contestant

Thank you for writing your April 2 article about Lynn Lochrie. We appreciate your concern about hearing-impaired rights.

We are a group of hearing-impaired students attending Cerritos College. We are very upset about the Miss Anaheim Scholarship Pageant’s treatment of Lynn. We have been taught to work toward mainstreaming with the hearing population, yet this pageant has shown us that we are not welcome. The city of Anaheim and the director, Earline Jones, have treated Lynn as a second-class citizen. Our God-given deafness makes us different in one small way only. Mr. Bob Arnhym’s quote tells us that he believes we should have our own deaf competitions, pageants, etc. . . . That is discrimination! Discrimination begins with unfair rules. The pageant has definitely set unfair rules.

Mr. Bob Arnhym compares backup singers and gymnast spotters with interpreters. We don’t understand the comparison. We believe that it would be fair to all if an interpreter was used for pre-pageant activities, giving directions and for the interview portion. Foreign-language interpreters are used in mainstreaming our world of varying languages and cultures. Why should a pageant and the use of sign language be considered differently?

We would like to believe that part of this problem is due to Ms. Jones’ and Mr. Arnhym’s lack of information. We would like for them to visit our program at Cerritos College to let us present a clearer understanding of sign language and hearing impairment. We welcome the opportunity to begin their education.

Hearing Impaired Students

at Cerritos College,

Richard Som

Brian Ngo

Jeffrey Ngo

Gary Shade

Jackson Stahl

Maria Caro

Paul Som