The following information was sent to me by a friend 
and I thought others on the list might find this an 
interesting topic.  You might also find you might even 
want to sign the petition.  I would be interested to hear 
other people's views on the subject.

Jude

IMPORTANT: Please do not delete this mail! Don't kill 
the petition!
PLEASE READ, COPY, SIGN, AND SEND ON...!

RECOGNITION OF BRITISH SIGN LANGUAGE 
PETITION

British Sign Language (BSL) is the first language of 
57,000-65,000 Deaf
people in the UK. Thousands more use it as a second 
language and over a
million have mastered a basic level of proficiency. In 
the past Deaf
people have been prevented from using their own 
language. Just as Welsh
people have secured their right to have Welsh 
language legally
recognised, Deaf people should be allowed to have 
the same choice, and
in turn be full and equal citizens.

The Federation of Deaf People (FDP) is organising a 
march for the legal
recognition of BSL by the British Government. The 
march will take place
on Saturday 8 July 2000. Please add your name to the 
list and send it on
to all your friends, family and colleagues!

If you are number 20 on the list please continue the 
petition by
forwarding it to your friends but also send it to:
[log in to unmask]
It is better to copy this e-mail and then send it on. You 
can forward it
but the petition will end up lots of >>> which creates 
more work for us
(when we could be doing other things).

Even if you don't want to sign the petition please don't 
kill it by
deleting it. Instead, please just forward it or send it 
back to
[log in to unmask]
If you receive several copies of this petition, please 
don't delete it
but keep the chains going if possible!

***if anyone would like to receive a hard copy of the 
petition to print
out and collect signatures from friends without e-mail 
please go to:
http://www.egroups.com/files/deaf-uk/
and open the FDP BSL March 2000 folder.  In here is 
the
BSL_Petition_2000.doc which can be printed out (as a 
Word 97 doc).
You can also sign the web petition at:
http://www.bsl-march.co.uk

If you want e mail updates, about the latest info on the 
march, please
send a blank e mail to: fdp-bsl-march-
[log in to unmask] (this is an
announcement list, NOT discussion).

Further info why BSL needs to be legally recognised, 
check the links at:

http://www.fdp.org.uk

If you have any other questions about the march, 
please send them to:
[log in to unmask]

NAME TOWN / CITY COUNTRY
1. Alison Bryan London UK
2. Isabel Reid, Nuneaton, UK
3. Christopher Reid, Nuneaton, UK
4. Helen Reed, London, UK
5. Alexandra Dury,Bristol,UK
6. Jemima Lambert, Bristol, UK
7. Andrew Buoy, Bristol, UK
8. Hannah Gurr, Bristol, UK
9. Elisabeth Bosch, UK
10.Joni Pike  Bristol, UK
11. Daz Saunders, UK
12. Alessandra Iantaffi, UK
13.Judith M. Irving, UK
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.


%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%