Hope Cotton on the Power of Finding Your Community
January 1 | 5 minute read
Words by MECCA M-POWER
Originally published on | November 13
AT MECCA, ADVANCING EQUALITY THROUGH THE EDUCATION AND EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN AND GIRLS IS A KEY FOCUS OF OUR SOCIAL CHANGE INITIATIVE, MECCA M-POWER.
In our MECCA M-POWERED interview series, fearless women from around the globe share their incredible stories – from overcoming adversity to following their passions and inspiring a future generation of female changemakers.
In our MECCA M-POWERED interview series, fearless women from around the globe share their incredible stories – from overcoming adversity to following their passions and inspiring a future generation of female changemakers.
Hope Cotton has always wanted to change the world, because she spent many years feeling like she didn’t belong in it.
Cotton is Deaf, yet grew up in a hearing family (as 95 percent of Deaf children do) – and a hearing world.
“I would often get into trouble at primary school,” Cotton reveals. “I also found it really hard to connect with my extended family growing up and big dinners or family events were super stressful.
“I could lipread and communicate pretty well one-on-one, but in bigger groups, I had no idea what was going on.”
“I would often get into trouble at primary school,” Cotton reveals. “I also found it really hard to connect with my extended family growing up and big dinners or family events were super stressful.
“I could lipread and communicate pretty well one-on-one, but in bigger groups, I had no idea what was going on.”
“It showed me just how inaccessible our world really was and filled me with a longing to make things better."
A turning point came when Cotton attended a kids’ camp run by Ko Taku Reo (Deaf Education New Zealand). “For the first time in my life, I could communicate with ease,” she recalls.
“Everything was set up with Deaf people in mind. It was amazing!”
Leaving the camp, that sense of belonging and ease wouldn’t last: “The airport, with the announcements we couldn't hear, unintelligible security staff and uncaptioned in-flight entertainment, was a shock to the system.
“It showed me just how inaccessible our world really was and filled me with a longing to make things better,” she says.
Leaving the camp, that sense of belonging and ease wouldn’t last: “The airport, with the announcements we couldn't hear, unintelligible security staff and uncaptioned in-flight entertainment, was a shock to the system.
“It showed me just how inaccessible our world really was and filled me with a longing to make things better,” she says.
At 15, Cotton started learning New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL) and “the floodgates opened”. “I often describe trying to communicate orally as like wading through jelly; it's a lot of extra effort and brain power. Learning sign language was incredibly freeing,” she explains.
It also enabled her to connect with the wider Deaf community: “I cannot put the significance of the love, support and friendship the Deaf community has provided into words that would do it justice.”
Yet navigating being Deaf in a hearing world is just one of the challenges Cotton has had to overcome.
Her lifelong Christian faith failed her when she came out as bisexual; she was insulted, excluded and shamed by clergy, teachers, mentors and peers.
It also enabled her to connect with the wider Deaf community: “I cannot put the significance of the love, support and friendship the Deaf community has provided into words that would do it justice.”
Yet navigating being Deaf in a hearing world is just one of the challenges Cotton has had to overcome.
Her lifelong Christian faith failed her when she came out as bisexual; she was insulted, excluded and shamed by clergy, teachers, mentors and peers.
“My first panic attack relating to my sexuality happened when I came out to my Bible study group.”
“My first panic attack relating to my sexuality happened when I came out to my Bible study group," Cotton reveals. “We were talking about how God created us all with unique differences that we should celebrate. I quietly mentioned my sexuality and it was like a bomb went off.”
Cotton was told bisexuality was simply a “trend” – that her desires were sinful, and never to act on them. “As soon as I got into my car I started crying and shaking and I didn't stop for hours. After that experience, I couldn't go inside a church building for years,” she recalls.
Now, at the age of 18 and studying Communications at the Victoria University of Wellington, she’s become a fierce advocate – determined to change the experience of Deaf people as well the LGBTQIA+ community, women and those with disabilities.
“Fighting for yourself is more difficult than fighting for someone else,” she says. “By fighting for my friends and younger queer kids that I saw myself in, I gave myself the motivation to keep on going.”
Cotton was told bisexuality was simply a “trend” – that her desires were sinful, and never to act on them. “As soon as I got into my car I started crying and shaking and I didn't stop for hours. After that experience, I couldn't go inside a church building for years,” she recalls.
Now, at the age of 18 and studying Communications at the Victoria University of Wellington, she’s become a fierce advocate – determined to change the experience of Deaf people as well the LGBTQIA+ community, women and those with disabilities.
“Fighting for yourself is more difficult than fighting for someone else,” she says. “By fighting for my friends and younger queer kids that I saw myself in, I gave myself the motivation to keep on going.”
“Fighting for yourself is more difficult than fighting for someone else."
At the moment, Cotton is focusing on one key change: “Currently, Aotearoa (New Zealand) is one of the only countries in the OECD without a legal captioning standard, which puts them in direct violation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” she explains.
Captioning makes “news, broadcast media, streaming content and educational media are all accessible to Deaf, hard of hearing and neurodivergent Kiwis.”
The student is also one of 25 young people selected for Aotearoa (New Zealand)-based feminist organisation YWCA’s Y25 programme – a celebration of young self-identified wahine (women) and non-binary people doing amazing mahi (work).
“I feel incredibly blessed to connect with and learn from so many amazing young women. It is a great feeling to have my work acknowledged and uplifted by an organisation like the YWCA,” she says.
To find out more about the Y25 programme, click here.
Captioning makes “news, broadcast media, streaming content and educational media are all accessible to Deaf, hard of hearing and neurodivergent Kiwis.”
The student is also one of 25 young people selected for Aotearoa (New Zealand)-based feminist organisation YWCA’s Y25 programme – a celebration of young self-identified wahine (women) and non-binary people doing amazing mahi (work).
“I feel incredibly blessed to connect with and learn from so many amazing young women. It is a great feeling to have my work acknowledged and uplifted by an organisation like the YWCA,” she says.
To find out more about the Y25 programme, click here.
