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https://www.positive.news/lifestyle/the-new-uk-television-dating-show-boosting-deaf-representation/>
"A new dating show,
Hold My Hand, is believed to be the first series
conducted entirely in British Sign Language (BSL), to challenge misconceptions
about deaf relationships while celebrating BSL as a language and culture,
producers say.
The show is broadcast on Lumo TV, a deaf-led streaming platform for sign
language users and sign-presented content. “For too long, the use of British
Sign Language has been treated as an afterthought in mainstream entertainment
and reality TV,” said Lumo TV CEO Camilla Arnold. “With this series, we’re
flipping that on its head,” she told the Guardian.
Hosted by deaf identical twin presenting duo, Hermon and Heroda Berhane, it
features contestants who are either deaf or children of deaf adults (Codas) who
would have used BSL to communicate with their parents.“People have never seen
our culture, our identity, the way we discuss things. So it’s a dating show,
yes, but it’s not just about dating; it’s also revealing our identity and our
culture, and that has never been seen before,” said Heroda Berhane.
The twins also hope the show will help challenge misconceptions around BSL,
with research suggesting 71% of 18- to 24-year-olds would not feel confident
dating someone who uses BSL as their main method of communication. Berhane
describes BSL as “just another language”, and encourages greater openness and
curiosity from hearing audiences."
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*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
