Political Notebook: Deaf doc promotes the power of protest

The Emmy-nominated Apple Original Film "Deaf President Now!" chronicles the weeklong uproar that engulfed Gallaudet University sparked by the March 6, 1988 announcement that its board had hired another hearing person to serve as its president. Students at the world’s only university for the deaf rose up to demand that the first deaf person be named its leader.

After initial defiance by the incoming president and the college’s board members, all of whom were not hearing impaired, they reversed course seven days later. Amid resignations by the board chairwoman and the woman with a nursing background she had initially defended as the best person to run the then 124-year-old institution, I. King Jordan, Ph.D., a deaf man who was the dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences, was named Gallaudet’s president.

Focused on the quartet of Gallaudet students who became leaders of the collective uprising on their campus known as the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement, the documentary has arrived on screens amid the myriad protests that have sprung up across the U.S. against the policies and actions of the Trump administration. At the film’s heart is a lesson about what makes such actions successful, contended co-director and co-producer Nyle DiMarco at a special screening of it August 10 at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in San Francisco’s Mission district.

“I think it is very tough today the way we are protesting because so much of it focuses on our disagreements and our separations,” said DiMarco, 36, who’s the fourth generation in his family to be deaf. “I think one of the key themes of this film is really that the four student leaders didn’t get along with each other in the beginning. But they were quick to overcome that, and I think that is what gave them their power in a lot of ways. So, I think, you know this is a movie that really inspires hope surrounding what collective action can be and that is, in short, very successful.”

DiMarco is a model, actor, and activist who is queer and sexually fluid. Signing with an interpreter, he and his collaborator, Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim, 61, fielded questions from the moderator and audience members about the film. They are among the 2025 Emmy nominees for outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program.

They are also in the running for outstanding documentary or nonfiction special, nominated along with several other producers on the film. The 77th Emmy Awards will air live on CBS from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles at 5 p.m. Sunday, September 14.

“To me, co-directing was a challenge and a blessing because we really couldn’t have made it without the other, I think,” said Guggenheim, who isn’t deaf and asked questions of those interviewed for the film that DiMarco credited with drawing out interesting responses that he may not have gotten as a solo director.

Guggenheim acknowledged that he is “an alien when I step on that campus” since he doesn’t sign himself and isn’t personally familiar with the deaf experience. Yet, his lack of such knowledge ended up benefitting the documentary, said the filmmakers, who devised how to intertwine segments from the perspective of a deaf person and that of a hearing person into it.

“The movie has the challenge of serving both audiences,” said Guggenheim. “You can’t make a film only for a hearing audience and you can’t make a film only for a deaf audience.”

Not mentioned in the film is that a major reason for why King and other deaf applicants had been dismissed by the university’s board was due to concerns about their being unable to connect with members of Congress and successfully fundraise to keep the campus open, said Guggenheim. King proved them wrong and raised $180 million for Gallaudet during his 18-year tenure, noted DiMarco.

Guggenheim said King “was widely popular in Congress” and noted that he “became a running buddy with President (Bill) Clinton,” something none of his hearing predecessors had done.

For those unaware of what took place at Gallaudet, from which DiMarco graduated in 2013, the documentary’s title and poster image can be a bit of a misdirect, with it sounding like a movie about a deaf candidate for president of the U.S. The film poster features a photo of protest leader Greg Hlibok, at the time president of the student body government, from his backside with his clenched right hand thrust in the air and the dome of the U.S. Capitol building in the background. (The university is located in D.C.)

DiMarco explained the image harkens to the fact that at the time of the protest over the college’s president, roughly 75% of Gallaudet’s budget came from the U.S. Congress and it could face closure should its federal funding be pulled. (The doc includes a brief snippet of gay former congressmember Barney Frank of Massachusetts speaking on the floor of the House in support of the student protesters.)

While it appears Hlibok is signing the sign for protest, DiMarco explained it becomes clearer when zooming in on the image that he is actually signing the sign for deaf power.

“It was made popular during Deaf President Now, but it also carries a sort of double meaning,” explained DiMarco.

In light of the political double entendre in the documentary’s title, DiMarco was asked by the Bay Area Reporter if he was interested in seeking elected office one day. He didn’t rule it out.

“I mean, running for politics sounds like a whole nother ball game. I am not sure I am up for that challenge,” he said. “I would say that I haven’t totally closed the door to it. I don’t know if I would close the door to it.”

 
As for seeing a deaf person be elected the country’s president, DiMarco told the B.A.R. it is conceivable.

“But yeah, why not? Why shouldn’t we have a deaf president of the U.S.? Let’s go,” said DiMarco. “Hopefully, in my lifetime; that would be great.”

In response to another audience member’s question, DiMarco would like to see the DPN movement be taught in schools. During a brief stint of enrollment at a public school in the fifth grade, as most of his education was at schools for the deaf, DiMarco was struck by the omission of lessons about deaf history, particularly of the Gallaudet presidency protest.

“I think this should absolutely be a part of every curriculum,” he said. “Imagine in middle school if you were reading about various civil rights events that happened and, you know, you read about something like this, it helps you shape your understanding of the deaf community and shows even at that point we are equal citizens in society, which shapes your perspectives as an adult, right?

“So, I think that definitely, our community deserves to be a part of history because we literally made it,” DiMarco continued. “I think putting it in more curriculums allows people to see us as equals.”

To learn more about the historic protest at Gallaudet University, visit the college’s special website devoted to it. It gave the filmmakers dusty reels of archival footage totaling 40 hours that they mined for use in the documentary.

The film, which screened at Sundance and was released in May, is accessible via Apple TV+ here.

Gay East Bay school board member resigns
Gay San Leandro Unified School District Board of Education Trustee James Aguilar is resigning from his Area 6 seat effective as of 11:59 p.m. August 31. He announced his decision at the school board’s August 6 meeting due to being hired as San Lorenzo High School’s new activities director and a leadership teacher at the school.

“Being on the school board is what ultimately inspired me to get my master’s degree and become a high school social science teacher. Little did I know I’d end up taking on my dream job,” Aguilar wrote in a Facebook post announcing his decision, adding that it “ultimately, is my larger reason for leaving the board. It's time, and I'm ready to put my all into it.”

First appointed in 2018 at the age of 18 due to his being the only person to file for the school board seat, Aguilar again found himself the sole person to file in 2022 and was automatically given another four-year term that was to run through 2026. In 2021, he fell short in the special election for an open Assembly seat.

“I became the youngest person elected of office in California’s history – something I will live by as a barrier broken,” noted Aguilar.

Gay Minneapolis mayoral candidate holds East Bay fundraiser
Gay Democratic Minneapolis mayoral candidate the Reverend Dr. DeWayne Davis will be holding a fundraiser this weekend in Oakland ahead of his fall election. He is vying to become his city’s first out LGBTQ mayor and has the endorsement of the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund.

The former chaplain of the Minnesota state Senate, Davis is lead minister at Plymouth Congregational Church. He and his husband are good friends with Alameda school board president Ryan LaLonde and his husband, Christopher Moody, who are among the local leaders co-hosting the August 16 event for Davis.

Bishop Yvette Flunder, who identifies as same-gender loving and leads City of Refuge United Church of Christ in Oakland, is also one of the co-hosts, along with couple Richard Fuentes and Sean Sullivan, the co-owners of Fluid510 where the event will take place from 3 to 5 p.m.

The LGBTQ nightlife venue is located at 1544 Broadway in downtown Oakland. Donations beginning at $50 are requested of attendees and can be made online at actblue.com/donate/east-bay .

The election will take place November 4 and uses ranked-choice voting to determine the winner. Davis has emerged as a top contender alongside Mayor Jacob Frey, who is seeking reelection, and Democratic Socialist Omar Fateh, a state senator who’s drawn national attention this summer following New York City mayoral contender Zohran Mamdani, a fellow Muslim and Democratic Socialist, becoming the Democratic Party’s candidate in his race.

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on LGBTQ support for the 2026 California lieutenant governor candidates.
 
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