Heike Heubach
Heike Heubach (born 14 December 1979) is a German politician from the Social Democratic Party of Germany.[1] She has been a member of the German Bundestag since March 2024.[2]
Personal life[edit]
She is the first deaf member of the Bundestag.[3] Heubach's sign name is the sign for the smile.[4]
Life[edit]
Heubach was born in Rottweil in 1979.[5] She suffered from a middle ear infection as an infant and probably became deaf in both ears as a result. From 1986 to 1996 she attended primary and secondary school, which she left with her secondary school leaving certificate. From 1996 to 1999, Heubach attended business school, graduating with a secondary school leaving certificate. She then attended high school from 2000 to 2001 and technical college (Fachoberschule) from 2001 to 2003, where she obtained her technical college entrance qualification.
From 2008 to 2011 she completed training as an industrial clerk at e.on Facility Management GmbH, where she then worked until 2013.[4] From 2013 until she entered the Bundestag in 2024, she worked at Bayernwerk.[6] Heubach worked as an industrial manager.[7]
She lives in Stadtbergen in the Augsburg district.[4] Heubach is married and has two adult children.[8]
Politics[edit]
In November 2019, Heubach joined the SPD[5] and ran for the Stadtberg city council in the 2020 local elections.[4] In February 2021, she was nominated as a direct candidate for the SPD Bavaria in the Augsburg-Land constituency for the 2021 federal election.[9] Heubach received 14.5% of the first votes and failed to make it into parliament onto the party list.[10]
On 20 March 2024, she replaced Uli Grötsch in the Bundestag when he resigned.[3][11] On 21 March, joined her colleagues who used sign language welcome her.[12]
As a parliamentarian, Heubach will have a permanent seating place in the Reichstag building unlike most other parliamentarians. Due to planned disability-accessibility measures, German-language interpreters will be positioned near her to interpret speeches and her questions. When Heubach is scheduled to make her own speeches in the Bundestag, an interpreter with a microphone will have a seat next to the stenographers in order to interpret her speeches to translate for other lawmakers to understand.[13]
On her joining the Bundestag the chairwoman of the Bavarian regional group in the SPD parliamentary group, Carolin Wagner said “this is a milestone for the inclusion and representation of the deaf community in the German Parliament".[14] Until 2024, Germany had only elected deaf representatives to local office.[15]
References[edit]
- ^ "German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker". CT Insider. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker". The Independent. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
- ^ a b "Nachrückerin Heike Heubach: Gehörlose Abgeordnete zieht in den Bundestag ein". Spiegel. 16 March 2024. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b c d Viktoria Spinrad (21 September 2021). "Gehörlose Wahlkämpferin: Politischer Coup für die Inklusion". Süddeutsche Zeitung. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ a b Stefan Lange (21 March 2024). "Interview: "Mir ist wichtig, dass ich nicht nur als gehörlose Person wahrgenommen werde"". Augsburger Allgemeine. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
- ^ "Wer sind wir eigentlich? – Mitarbeiterstory". LinkedIn. Bayernwerk. 17 June 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
- ^ "German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker". SFGATE. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Person - Heike Heubach". heike-heubach.de. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Der Wahlnebel verzieht sich". Süddeutsche Zeitung. 28 September 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2024..
- ^ Press, Associated (21 March 2024). "German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Ausgeschiedene Abgeordnete der 20. Wahlperiode". Deutscher Bundestag. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
- ^ "Erste Gehörlose Heubach im Bundestag angekommen". ZDFheute (in German). 21 March 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "German parliament welcomes its first deaf lawmaker". AP News. 21 March 2024. Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ "Heubach wird erste gehörlose Abgeordnete im Bundestag". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 5 April 2024.
- ^ Caughie, John; McBain, Janet (1 February 2018), "Local Films for Local People: 'HAVE YOU BEEN CINEMATOGRAPHED?'", Early Cinema in Scotland, Edinburgh University Press, retrieved 5 April 2024
External links[edit]
