In my experience this is pretty contentious depending on who you talk to in the community, some people don't buy into the deafness as a benefit and its definitely a political issue.
I wonder if there is an equivalent political thing for the blind or for the partially vision impaired. I've only read or heard about these kind of divides (e.g. rejecting fixes for the condition, argument about whether it is an impairment) when it comes to hearing.