Dominican Republic officially recognizes sign language

Recently, the Dominican Republic approved the official recognition of sign language. We reached out to the Dominican Republic’s National Association of the Deaf and interviewed a few key people who have been part of this process.

Renca: Hello!

All: Hello!

Renca: Thank you so much for being here to tell us what’s been going on. First, congratulations on the recent approval of the recognition of sign language in your country. If you wouldn’t mind, let’s do some quick introductions of your names and your connection to your organization.

Pablo: My name is Pablo Taveras, and I’m the President of the National Association of the Deaf in Republica Dominicana (the Dominican Republic). This is our sign for the organization.

Alan: My name is Alan Jesurum and I’m the Secretary for our organization, I work alongside Pablo. Thank you for having us.

Darling: My name is Darling Trinidad and I’m a member of our organization.

Renca: Thank you, it’s nice to meet you all. I know that this has been an ongoing fight to make it to this momentous success. Would one of you mind giving us a brief story of what happened? What led to this recent success? What made them finally understand?

Alan: Sure, go ahead.

Darling: Pablo?

Pablos: Alan?

Alan: Okay. This happened two weeks ago. Our government is composed of the Senate and the House of Deputies. The House of Deputies approved and passed our bill which brought it to the Senate, but the Senate said some changes would need to be made to the bill and then we could submit it again. But our bill was pre-approved. We had to submit it again so we could show the changes that were made to fit the government’s requirements, and how it would benefit both the community itself as well as the government. So that’s what we did, submitting it again for full approval. There was no fight against it, it happened quickly. Wow, it was a thrilling day this recent Thursday, seeing it brought to the government for deliberation and a vote. It was a unanimous “Si,” a yes. Truly an exciting day.

Pablo: To add to that, our House of Deputies is like your Legislators in the U.S. This bill included the importance of Deaf identity, sign language, the role of interpreters, and schools, that was the legislation. When we submitted this to the Senate, they asked about the importance of recognizing sign language. The U.S. has the ADA Law, and our equivalent here is the 5-13 Law. This is a broader law that’s good for all people with disabilities. Sign language should be part of that, right? No, we protested that it wasn't the case! Much of the Senate are doctors or have professional medical experience. We explained that it needs to be separate since the Deaf community has its own distinct sign language and needs. The government wasn’t aware of this. The 5-13 Law is great for broader support of wheelchair users, and blind and Deaf people in general. But 5-13 is only a small window into the needs of the Deaf community. They finally understood, which led to the approval and signing of our bill.

Renca: Now I understand you have been fighting for this for 12 years. Wow, why did it take 12 years?

Alan: Whew, it’s a long story! Does either of you want to tell it?

Darling: It’s a long story but I’ll make it short. I believe we started in 2000, our agency beginning this fight. Originally we were proposing amendments that were unsatisfactory to the government and therefore denied. This happened eight times, denial after denial. As Pablo mentioned, they wanted it incorporated into the 5-13 law as we insisted on keeping it separate. They wanted it alongside the use of Braille, but we persisted against that. With most of the Senate being in the medical field, it was an ongoing fight. 12 years before we finally made it happen.

Alan: Also we need to remember that this association has been running for a while and Deaf people back in the old days really worked on their own. There was no mentor to explain the law or any of that. I think it was 2015 we made a change for a new board of members. Together, we picked the laws apart as a lot of the verbiage was so ambiguous. We contacted the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) who supported our efforts here, plus Discovering Deaf Worlds (DDW)- I want to thank WFD as well as my friend Henry who provided support to Republica Dominicana during this process. And lawyers as well, they got involved to really dive into the legislation. That was crucial because we had to be informed of what was submitted in the past. So from 2012 until now in 2023, as Darling mentioned, this work was denied eight times because government officials weren’t knowledgeable on what this kind of legislature could mean. They thought disability was a “one size fits all” kind of thing. We worked hard to expose them all to better information, and I do mean everyone from the Senate and House of Deputies. Finally, they were able to understand the need for a law to recognize sign language as a true language like any other. English, Spanish, you name it. Sign language is central to the identity of the Deaf community.

Pablo: And to add to why this took 12 years, Alan and Darling have mentioned a lot but if I could add one more thing- the people in government positions switch out a lot with other people- some have maxed their four years cycle, etc. Like August, it is the start of cycle for different bills to be proposed then when it goes through different levels of approval then come July, it becomes expired or sometimes overlooked. So, we have to start the process again. So there are different reasons why it took long.

Darling: The passing of this law is going to help the Deaf community. Interpreters can now be brought into universities, schools can now require sign language, and teachers of sign language classes must now be Deaf. Hearing people have benefitted from teaching for too long, enough is enough. It’s the Deaf community’s turn. With the passage, there are now 180 components we need to work on amending and clarifying.

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Renca: Again, congratulations to you all. Are there any final comments you’d like to add for all Deaf communities out there in the world who may be watching this? Any last words?

Darling: I’ll just say this. All Deaf communities need the following two things. The first is patience, as it may take many years to achieve something big. The second is collaboration. Without collaboration, you won’t go as far. Supporting and uplifting each other can skyrocket you to a common goal, and you’ll find success.

Pablo: Also, people around the world know our island as the Dominican Republic which they’ll sign this way, but that’s English. The way we sign it is like this: Republica Dominicana. No debate!

We thank you for your time. Right now, the last part is to get the government’s signature to make it into a law which will happen very soon. You can contact them for more information and follow them on their Facebook and Instagram. We have included links in our transcript. We congratulate the Deaf community in the Dominican Republic for this huge victory.

Links

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ansordord/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ansordordd