Nyle DiMarco Goes 'Full Frontal' (So You'll Pay Attention To Deaf Rights)

Nyle DiMarco on TBS' Full Frontal

Earlier this week, I teased an appearance on TBS’ Full Frontal by America’s Next Top Model & Dancing with the Stars champ, Nyle DiMarco.

The sexy, sexually fluid model guested in a segment titled “Deaf Lives Matter,” which aims to educate folks on the challenges deaf people face especially in encounters with the police.

It is a comedy/news show, so there were segments like, “Nyle Takes His Shirt Off - So You'll Pay Attention To Deaf Rights."

DiMarco and Bee had tips for law enforcement officers who don’t know how to interact with Deaf people:

• American Sign Language is big and expressive - don’t interpret ASL as threatening gestures.

• Don’t expect Deaf people to read lips, as many can’t and it’s too easily misunderstood. Try doing it yourself in a stressful situation as a police officer waves a flashlight in your eyes. Nyle suggests you call an interpreter.

• Don’t ask deaf people to write things out because English and ASL are not the same. Due to language deprivation, some Deaf people can’t read/write English fluently.

When police aren’t properly trained to cope with Deaf people, horrifying things can happen.

The show shared one incident when officers pulled over a driver, but as the driver reached for his ‘driver is Deaf’ placard, the cops responded with violence not knowing he’s deaf and cannot hear them.

Flash to a pic of the Deaf driver in the hospital with a bruised and swollen face.

Then, the segment cuts to video footage showing the officers realizing he is deaf. They respond by laughing about “messing up” the man’s face.

p.s. the highway patrolmen were cleared of any wrongdoing.

Many people wrongly assume all Deaf people are trained in sign language, but the facts are only 2% have access to a formal education in sign language.

Noting that 50% of all people killed by police officers have disabilities, Nyle shared the video writing he hopes to “raise awareness” to help police “peacefully interact with Deaf people.”

Nyle launched the Nyle DiMarco Foundation as a means to helping improve Deaf people's lives. Check out the official website here.