I think both of them have issues that different deaf people can relate to. I can't say that one is better than the other. They are each different.
I do notice that there's something I don't like about Heather, but I am thinking that it might be related to her personality. It might not be related to her deafness at all.
I did read her mom's book and Heather's. I can relate on many experiences. She had her difficulties, too. I didn't find anything to be against her or offensive, but it didn't have any magical solution that would suddenly make your life easier or see her as a role model.
I think Heather's human, and I don't think that she's perfect, but some people tried to push me to watch her pageant as a role model because people thought that she had it perfect. It pi$$ed me off because I felt like they were ignoring the fact that it was difficult whether Heather's in the picture or not. I knew behind all of the pageant success that Heather must have had her share of difficulties in life as a deaf person, and it was true when I read her book. I was like "ha, bitches. Ye can't fool me!" She went through it to pay her education as well.
It was as if people thought that her experience would automatically make me more confident. Dude, just because she made it to the pageant doesn't mean that all of my difficulties would diassapear because of Heather winning a pageant.
I am not against Marlee at all. I think she's humble when it comes to deafness, but I wonder where she stands on oralism because she does talk sometimes. So I am not sure how much she speaks or supports it or what. What I seem to get is that she probably just respects it, and stays with what she's comfortable instead of pushing people to be on the total deaf side. What I like is that she's not so much on Deaf Pride, so it makes it easier to relate to her in some ways.
They both have their differences as deaf people. I don't think that either one represent the deaf community better. Some people will like one person better than the other depending on their personality.