Exmouth students march for BSL law

Sign language protection on the way

In solidarity with the deaf community campaigning outside parliament for legal protection for British Sign Language (BSL) on Friday, students from Exmouth's deaf academy left their desks to march into the town centre.

Staff accompanied the youngsters on their peaceful protest, which took place on the day MPs discussed a private member’s bill introduced by Labour MP Rosie Cooper.

The government supported the bill, which had its second reading in the Commons, which means it will almost certainly become law.

Around 250,000 people in the UK communicate through BSL, a visual medium consisting of a combination of hand gestures, facial expressions and body language.

The Deaf Academy's assistant principal Mark Stocks said: “The reason we are here today is because all of our students and staff at the academy are fighting for the equality of BSL and English. We hope today the government pass the second bill of the BSL Act and we will see English and BSL as equals.”

The BSL Act will secure the legal status and increase public awareness of BSL. Government Departments and public bodies would also be required to adhere to new guidance, setting out how they must meet the needs of the estimated 87,000 BSL users in the UK.
 
It will now go through to committee stage in February and then a final (third) reading in March. At that point, the language has legal status, with the public sector then expected to use it wherever possible.