NYLE DIMARCO
The model, activist and actor on the challenges Deaf queer people face, and how there needs to be more awareness of American Sign Language.
The model, activist and actor – adored by his 1.6 million Instagram followers daily – discusses the challenges Deaf queer people face, and how there needs to be greater awareness of American Sign Language to make it more acceptable and mainstream.
“I’m the fourth generation in my family that is Deaf. My two brothers, parents, grandparents, and great grandparents are all Deaf,” Nyle DiMarco tells us when we ask him why his first ever Gay Times cover – which sees ‘I Love You’ painted on his body in American Sign Language by artist Cacho Falcon – is so important to him. “In total, I have over 25 Deaf members in my family. We’ve been using sign language and passing it down for generations.
“American Sign Language is my native language. ASL gave me the language foundation I needed for success from an early age,” he adds. “Growing up with ASL I was able to dictate my life, able to define myself, and able to identify myself as Deaf Queer with pride and confidence – without language and communication barriers.”
Before Nyle became an actor, activist and model who is daily swooned over by his 1.6 million followers on Instagram, he grew up in Frederick, Maryland with his family. He went on to graduate from Gallaudet University in 2013 with a degree in mathematics, but it wasn’t long before the spotlight called out to him, and in the same year he secured a leading role in the independent film In The Can, which was produced by American Sign Language Films.
Naturally the acting bug caught hold, and just 12 months later Nyle was signed up for a few appearances as Garrett Banducci in ABC’s groundbreaking drama series Switched at Birth. The primetime show became the first mainstream drama to have multiple Deaf and hard-of-hearing series regulars, with scenes shot entirely in ASL.
But despite Switched at Birth’s popularity, when it comes to the visibility of Deaf people in mainstream media, there is still a long way to go. “Hollywood needs to diversify because true representation matters,” Nyle tells us. “I also stress the importance of having Deaf people involved behind the stage or behind the camera because they help cultivate the truth of the story. We need to empower Deaf people in Hollywood because we have thousands of fascinating stories to share. And those stories need to be told by Deaf people through our unique Deaf eyes and perspective.”
One such example came earlier this year – albeit on the east side of the United States – when Nyle served as a producer on the Broadway revival of Children of a Lesser God. The play focuses on the romantic relationship between Deaf former student Sarah Norman and speech pathologist James Leeds. “It’s important in so many ways,” says Nyle about the revival. “For me, it was one of the first times I saw someone like myself represented in the media. Marlee Matlin brought a lot of attention to our community through her role in the film version of the story and its themes of listening are so important in our current cultural climate.
“There is a massive number of people, groups of people, who are not being heard or who are overlooked. Despite the power of social media, which could be a useful tool to educate
people, we’ve become so divided and so afraid to open up, listen, and communicate. That is what this play is about, listening. We need to start listening to each other.”
Nyle has followed in the footsteps of his hero Marlee Matlin not only as the second Deaf contestant to compete on Dancing With The Stars in the US, but as a visible role model for Deaf people across the globe. When he won America’s Next Top Model back in 2015, he was the first – and remains the only – Deaf person to do so, inspiring a whole new generation through one of the world’s most famous reality competitions.
Then, in the same year, he publicly came out as sexually fluid. Nyle immediately became an LGBTQ pin-up, and has since continued to speak openly and honestly about living at the intersection of his Deafness and queerness. He’s a visible figure for a group of people often overlooked by the community. “I think in terms of support, accessibility is an issue,” he says when we talk about the challenges of communicating in ASL in the LGBTQ community. “Often, we are deprived of information due to lack of captioning. We miss important information. When an inspiring LGBTQ role model speaks at a huge LGBTQ event on national television, we miss that information. I think that does take a toll on our LGBTQ pride and can be easily fixed.”
We live in an age where social media can connect communities across the globe, where conversations with like-minded individuals can help inspire, educate, and celebrate our shared experiences as part of the LGBTQ initialism. But Nyle adds that one of the biest challenges Deaf
queer people still face is not being able to access these resources. “I remember back in the day YouTube was one of the bi est platforms where people could openly discuss their sexuality, but there were no captions,” he recalls. “How can 466 million people with hearing loss join in on that conversation and find their ‘identity’ if they are denied access to what they’re saying?”
It’s an ongoing problem that, unfortunately, doesn’t get much better beyond the digital world. “Often there are not interpreters at Pride events for Deaf LGBTQ people and allies,” Nyle says. “The best solution is to have Deaf and people with disabilities involved in organising Pride events.” If we are to be a truly inclusive community, celebrating and caring for every human within our vibrant rainbowcoloured family, these issues need to be addressed.
These changes can only happen through visibility and education, something that the sunnier side of social media can offer. “The ability to virally spread important messages and awareness is so great,” explains Nyle when the conversation moves to the positive effect of online platforms for Deaf people. “We can easily communicate with others curious about the Deaf world, Deaf issues and needs, sign language oppression, and much more instantaneously. It has made a huge impact.”
It will also help that the world’s largest tech company, Apple, has pledged its full support behind Deaf and blind people with their Everyone Can Code program. Originally launched in 2017, last month the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, along with Nyle, announced plans to roll out the program in leading schools for the blind and Deaf across the US. The aim is to arm today’s youth with the relevant skills and understanding of coding, so they can start to imagine and build the apps of the future.
“The Everyone Can Code program, which is now accessible for students with disabilities, will empower millions of Deaf kids that they themselves can bridge the worlds between the hearing and the Deaf,” Nyle says of the tremendous impact this scheme will have. “Deaf people and others with disabilities truly know and understand the best ways to make the world more accessible... and by knowing how to code it is possible to create apps, new software and so much more that will benefit us all.”
There’s a hope that these new apps will break down preconceived notions of what it means to be Deaf, and make people more aware of ASL. “I think the most common misconception is that Sign Language is not a language and that our mode of communication is mere gesture,” Nyle tells us. “That is not true. Sign language is a language.” The model adds that he still deals with incorrect myths on a daily basis. “I was recently asked if I can drive,” he says. “Yes, Deaf people can drive!”
But aside from the surface level assumptions of Deaf people’s abilities in the real world, Nyle explains that there is a more nuanced make-up when it comes to the community itself. “There is a spectrum within the Deaf community,” he says. “I am Deaf, however there are other people with mild hearing loss and who don’t know ASL that identify as Deaf. There are Deaf people with cochlear implants. Late-Deaf people. And so many more. I love that they embrace Deaf identity and I do not question or deny their identity. The more the merrier.”
The idea of identifying one’s self on a spectrum also informs another part of Nyle’s life. As we mentioned earlier, the model is openly sexually fluid, being one of a handful of famous men to publicly speak about it. Sexual fluidity is defined as one or more changes to one’s sexual identity throughout their life, and it’s a definition that still – for some unknown reason – baffles mainstream society.
“I believe we always need more education around the idea that sexuality is a spectrum,” Nyle says. “When a person asks me what being fluid means, I always tell them that there is no one right way to define fluidity.” Discrimination can come from within the LGBTQ community too, with the false belief that fluidity is considered a ‘stepping stone’ towards homosexuality, or that the person in question is merely confused about their sexuality.
There is also the notion that women who come out as sexually fluid are more easily accepted as being so. Men, on the other hand, are rarely afforded the same level of understanding, as if their persuasion – or lack of moreover – is a detriment to their masculinity. It’s only through visibility that these archaic beliefs will start to crumble.
“There needs to be more positive representation of male fluidity,” Nyle agrees. “Everyone should feel represented and valued and that has a lot to do with who we see on screen.” Very rarely – if ever – do we see male sexual fluidity feature in major television series or feature films. It’s imperative studios start to represent the broader spectrum of sexuality for the new generation coming through, so they have positive role models to help them understand their own journey.
That’s something Nyle never had growing up, and he was left – like the majority of us – to navigate those feelings himself. “I knew ever since before I can remember,” he replies, when we ask him at what point did he realise that he wasn’t straight. “I always felt different. Growing up was a little difficult because I never talked about it and I didn’t have role models who were like me. When I started talking about it, it got much easier. It helped me discover my identity. Talking about it also helped me realize that despite not having role models growing up, I could be one for the future generation.”
While Nyle has now fully embraced who he truly is, he has another realm to maneuver through: the dreaded universe of dating. “I am very known in my Deaf community so it’s a bit difficult dating in that world,” he admits. “And it is also difficult dating in the hearing world due to the language barrier/ differences.” It hasn’t deterred him looking for The One at all though. “It’s a bit strange, uncharted territory, and I’m still happily navigating it all.”
Considering one of Nyle’s Instagram posts gets anything between 130,000 to 200,000 likes, we’re guessing that he isn’t shy of a few admirers. In fact, looking at his social output, he isn’t shy himself when it comes to body confidence. “Growing up my mother, who is also Deaf, had nude artwork all over our house,” he explains. “I grew up seeing naked artwork every day and it felt normal. My mother also always said, ‘the body is art.’ Ever since then I’ve felt comfortable in my own skin.”
It meant Nyle had no qualms when the idea arose of him stripping down for his first Gay Times photoshoot to have American Sign Language painted all over his body. But don’t for one second write it off as a display of vanity, as Nyle’s dedication to activism and raising awareness of the issues closest to him remains at the heart of everything he does.
“I hope that this photoshoot will raise awareness about sign language and step by step we can make it more acceptable and mainstream,” Nyle tells us. “There are 70 million Deaf people, only 2% have access to education in sign language. More than 75% of parents do not sign to communicate with their child. That is why I started the Nyle DiMarco Foundation. To make early language acquisition available to as many people as possible and get ASL out there.”
“Growing up with ASL I was able to dictate my life, able to define myself, and able to identify myself as Deaf Queer with pride and confidence – without language and communication barriers. ”