Walls or Windows: Are the Deaf and LGBT Communities "Wholly Other" or "Holy Other"?

Mary Dyer is a citizen of two minority communities-deaf and LGBT. Her entry into both came in midlife. At age forty, she finally chose to live an authentic, lesbian life that resulted in divorcing her husband and coparenting their three children. More than two decades later, she suffered instant hearing loss during knee surgery recovery.

In Walls or Windows Mary Dyer shines a light on the othering that occurs when people are different from societal norms. As a gay and late-deafened woman, she offers firsthand accounts of her experiences alternating with brief histories of milestones in deaf and LGBT inclusion, acceptance, and advancements. Rather than building walls between us and those we consider "wholly other," Mary insists that we take a look through the windows she provides and realize that, instead, members of these communities are actually "Holy Other."

Her work urges readers to see the divine in each person, with their differences enhancing them rather than limiting them. The gifts these individuals contribute to society make the world a more beautiful, compelling place.