Why do you not like "gay" signed as G tapping the chin? I assume that it has some sort of similarity to a negative sign maybe? But i'm fairly new to all of this still (despite having been teaching myself ASL for almost the past year) so I'm still not too clear on everything ^^'
It's not that I don't LIKE it, it just doesn't feel right. Besides, if you think about it, it can look like a sexual act. It's worse with a certain way of signing lesbian, that's why I sign it only one way (the one I showed in this) or spell it.
Do you mind explaining what about it doesn't feel right? I've never seen that opinion before except for the queer community rejecting the English words (not the signs) because it can imply old fashioned ideas about gender.
It's hard to explain, but my signing subconscious tells me it's wrong. I think it might have to do with the fact that there's no reasoning for the sign being on the chin other than a sexual act. The sign for lesbian kiiiiiiind of has reasoning, it's sometimes said to do with lipstick. BUT it's also gender-based (which is so stereotypical but there it is). On the face, nearly ALL masculine signs are signed above the nose and nearly ALL feminine signs are signed below the nose. So following that formula, gay shouldn't be signed on the chin yet it is. That feeds into the stereotype that all gay people are feminine (which is definitely not true), but also trying to sign something with a G above the nose makes no sense. It just doesn't work in sign, there are no signs that I can think of that use G in that area except for one. The sign for peabrain is done on the forehead and uses a G handshape. Soooo yeah there you go.
From my understanding, it comes from the fact that it was also used as "queer" in a derogatory way in the past (As you know, G and Q are the same handshape). And just as some people embrace the term queer, others dislike it, hence the problem with the sign
Yesterday my Deaf ASL professor taught us how to sign gay, lesbian, and partner, and that made me all the more curious about other LGBT+ signs. I approached him after class, asking how to sign queer, since that's the word I feel most comfortable using to identify myself. He had never even heard the word queer before and didn't know what it meant, which sparked a long conversation about LGBT+ culture in the Deaf community. I helped him understand what queer meant, but still lacked a sign, so I did some digging on my own and found your video. Thanks for this :) I'm sending it to my professor so that he can learn more too!
Rohan, I’m learning sign...for my grandson who has Down syndrome....I’m a soft butch Grama. You made my heart”SMILE”...when you signed QUEER!!! Dude, I love you....Thanks for being you, and being there for us...
Im a deaf teacher at my church and somehow i want to make it known to others that I am ace/asexual and help the deaf at my ministry understand the LGBTQ+ community. So this was really helpful
Thank you so much. this is the stuff that they wont teach us ASL students in school. As a queer person who would really like to meet new deaf and HoH people these signs are important to know, expeaially in dating.
The Deaf community loves doing that! If we're referencing shutting up verbally, we'll sign [cut] in front of our mouth. I think I'll mention/explain it in my next ASL Ponderings video for those who don't know sign :)
this was a very, very, good video! I've been practicing sign language for about...5 weeks now, and this was of course a necessity to learn😂😉 It was quite refreshing how it had no audio, and was quite helpful how you mouthed the words along to it, and the captioning😄 and I loved how you refreshed a lot of the signs so they would go out of the mindset of there only being 2 genders. over all amazing, Thanks for the video, mate!
I’m a lesbian with complete hearing loss in one ear and iffy hearing in the other. This was really helpful in learning new signs and unlearning old signs that are strictly binary or could be construed as offensive. Thank you so much for your explanations!
Thank you so mcuh! I'm an ASL student in Illinois and we don't have any signs like this in our cirriculum and I found it difficult to find a way to sign things about a famous hard of hearing celebrity I was doing a project on with a transitioning sexuality. This video helped me a lot and I got extra points for learning something so new to the signing world in our area! I really appriciate the help you probably didn't realize you'd give me!
Yay! I made this video with the purpose of helping people who look for these! I'm fully aware that these signs are usually not taught in ASL curriculums, and interpreters have to learn them on the fly or through their own research.
I really love that this video exists, I'm a bisexual ASL student in rural Kentucky, so it's not like my teacher is going to teach this stuff. I appreciate you!
So my friend said someone told them that to reference a non-bianary person in asl (similar to using "they" in English) you put your thumb on your cheek bone with you palm open. Similar to a c-handshape.
Huh, I've never seen that, so I'm having difficulty picturing what it would look like. Any chance there's a video somewhere with that sign in it? Also, I recently made a video about gender neutral/inclusive signs where I talk about "they" in ASL: ua-cam.com/video/sv_gRXrY558/v-deo.html
Rogan Shannon oh. Yay! That's what I was looking for yesterday! I wasn't able to find anything. So my friend's friend's professor told them that so I sadly don't have a video. I guess a better way to describe it is the same handshape you would use for man or woman but on the cheek bone and then down to the chest, sorry. I didn't describe it well.
omg thank you so much for making this video!! ive been learning asl for a while now and just last year i came out as ace, and a month ago panromantic, and I was looking for videos about queer signs. i just wanted to say thank you so much!!!!
I'm glad you mentioned it whenever a sign was too binary or in other ways not appropriate. I don't really know sign language so I wouldn't have known by myself.
I can't remember when I saw this, but I once saw a suggestion for the gay and lesbian signs to be G tapping the cheek (palm against the cheek) and L the same way. I will try to find the blog post I saw it on and link that. It makes me think of a kiss on the cheek, so maybe that would be better than the current signs? A suggestion.
Rogan Shannon I've found it mentioned on multiple sites, but so far this is the only one that had a visual (for lesbian, still looking for gay): www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/l/lesbian.htm
Interesting... I don't know how I feel about that one. It doesn't feel right, we don't have that many signs on the side of the face, especially in the way that's signed.
Thank you so much for creating this, Rogan! As a queer, nonbinary person who is just beginning to learn ASL, this video gives me signs that help me feel informed and valued. I've been thinking about how to move the sign for "gender" away from a binary, and I wonder if you could do the second variant you do but keep your dominant hand in place instead of moving from top to bottom--so a "g" tapped twice on an open palm. That would make it similar to the sign for "identity," but with a "g" instead of an "i".
Yay! I'm glad you're learning ASL, and that this is of help! Ooh that's actually not a bad idea! I've been thinking about trying to reach out to my international network of deaf friends and seeing what their countries use for that word. I'm sure a lot of them are binary signs, but there just might be something interesting!
I believe most International Sign signs the Dutch way or the Finnish way. My school group tended to sign the Finnish way because one of our teachers always signed it that way (and she's from Finland).
I just started college at RIT, its a very fruity and inclusive campus with a large amount of hard of hearing/hearing impaired/deaf people so these are really good to know, thanks!
I personally really like the idea of the two French Xs (bent index and middle finger) on top of each other to describe different multi-gender sexualities. Maybe not the back and forth, since that's kinda exclusionary as you said, but a clockwise-direction circle around for bi, as most bi people like most, if not all genders, one circle in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) for polysexual, twisting the top hand for omnisexual, circling the top hand multiple times for pansexual, and doing the motion for "get-up" with the same handshape for demisexual. I feel like this connects all the multi-gender attractions together and doesn't connect the signs themselves too much to English. I do also like the bouncing G over the heart for gender, and maybe you can combine the sexuality titles with that to create a compound sign for the appropriate gender (In gloss: GENDER DEMISEXUAL or DEMISEXUAL GENDER for demigender, the demisexual being changed to just demi in that context)
Very interesting with the double Xs. I'm pretty sure that the French X requires the index, middle, and thumb to move inwards, but it's an interesting thought. To me, it kind of feels like it'd require memorization of which movement means what. It doesn't feel natural to me, if that makes sense. As for the G over the heart, if it's a circle motion, that might work, because it'd be similar to character, personality, etc., but it'd still be using a letter so I don't know. If it's bouncing, then that becomes the ASL sign for guilty, so we definitely don't want that! :)
This is so interesting! Hearing people often struggle with queer terminology, but not having a sign for it must get frustrating at times. Do you think it's easier now with the internet for people pick up on these new signs? Do you find yourself having to explain them to people who aren't as familiar? As a hearing person I feel like I'm more likely to avoid using words that people won't understand, rather than trying to explain them to people.
We do a lot of fingerspelling in ASL! (I have a whole video about that :P ) I think it is definitely easier to spread signs, thanks to the Internet, and especially groups like ASL That! It's a Facebook group where people ask questions about how to sign a word, or discuss a new sign, really just for ASL and linguistics discussion in general. Well, I use the word linguistics, but the group is very informal and anyone can join. I often find myself explaining words, but that's good - because that means they learn something new, and that word goes just that little bit further. It does depend on the situation though. If it's at a party or a situation where it's a place to have fun, I will sometimes avoid using those words if I don't feel like explaining anything.
I personally like bisexual with the concept two, my understanding of bisexuality is that gender is an important concept, and by using two we can see that they can go with either side of the spectrum. My understanding of pansexual is that gender is not important when it comes to partners, it’s almost like gender is “invisible” or a simple physical trait (like having brown eyes or wearing glasses). This is what I identify with. I’m not omnisexual, though, which I understand to be open to any gender. This is more similar to how you signed pansexual as open to any gender. That being said, the meaning of these words is probably different in different communities, which is why it’s so cool that you posted the video with super insightful and thoughtful comments. Cheers!
Can we just get the conference discussions of signers who actually understand queer terminology to dish this all out? (Obviously with priority given to Deaf people with the identities in question.) I know we'll never arrive at a truly standardized system for these words, but it's been weighing on me for so long how unresolved this is... Thank you for doing this kind of work, it's super important to at least initiate these conversations!!!
I REALLY love this video. I've had a lot of trouble finding queer ASL vocab, and I really appreciate how in-depth these explanations are, and your acknowledgement of the problems with signs that rely too heavily on binary gender or biological sex. I only wish it were slowed down a little bit, because I'm super new to ASL and sometimes it's hard to follow along, or i have to back up the video a few times to see exactly what's being signed. Either way, thank you so much for sharing.
Yay! That was the whole reason for making this video, I know this info is hard to find online. Thank you, I made sure to add the info about binary/biological stuff, because for new signers it's not something they'd know or think of. You can slow it down! UA-cam has this feature where you can slow down or speed up a video, if you click on the gear icon you'll find it there. I use it all the time :P
@@RoganShannon13 I also love this video! I've been studying ASL for about 10 years now, but I'm in a very conservative area, so this topic doesn't come up much. I really appreciate how thorough you were! I'm curious, though... The English word "bisexual" (which from what I can tell, your sign #BI is based on) is binary ("bi" is Latin for "two"), and from my understanding, people who are bisexual are attracted to the two traditional genders. I would think that because of all of this, the signs focusing on two genders would be fitting. Wouldn't people attracted to more than those two tend to identify as pansexual? Again, I am in a very conservative area, so please forgive my ignorance. I'm trying to learn!
@@alyssameldrum950 people who are bi also say that they are attracted to 'their gender and another' and many are attracted to genderfluid or nb individuals. It really has to do with which term they identify with better, especially if they grew up when pansexual was still not that popular.
Alyssa - traditionally, yes, bi has meant attracted to men and women. But in the past few years, more people have modified the definition to what BookWerm said, and I'm one of them. I use queer, bi, pan interchangeably for myself, but not for others. Always ask people! I tend to prefer bi, I don't really feel a connection with pan because it's essentially attraction to _all_ genders. I feel like I can't know that for sure, so bi for me is attraction to my gender and any other gender. ALSO! Bi can mean two genders, sure, but it doesn't necessarily have to be man/woman. It could be man/nonbinary, woman/nonbinary. The signs I show, some of them are focused on the male/female binary, which is why I'd rather avoid them.
There's another sign for "lesbian" in which the fingers of the L handshape are placed so that the mouth is between them-in other words, it refers to cunnilingus. From what I've read, this is a _very_ old and derogatory sign, and nowadays, it's used primarily in a homophobic context.
trying hard to learn sign language.. can still hear some what. but have been totaly deaf on three occasions, and deaf in my right ear on 2 occasions. I find it hard to read the sutitle sand follow the hand signals, which are too fast for me to follow.
Your expressions crack me up. Especially when you are not that comfortable with a particular sign. Oh my gosh! So funny!
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you probably wont see this but my ASL teacher(im in middle school and it was a language option) i sometimes trust more with knowing my identity than even my parents. and i dont know if she knows these signs but it would be fun to sign ace,aro and trans
Great video, I’m learning asl & it’s awesome to see videos on topics like this for vocab I use regularly enough to want to know in asl too. By the way, your fingerspelling is amazing and very intimidating loll
Thanks for the lesson, this was super helpful! Hopefully as acceptance, understanding and empathy of the queer community grows some of these questionable signs will fall out of use and have a more accepted version that better captures what they're trying to say. I can see why you're questionable about the bi signs and the gay sign.
Oh my gosh this is so wonderful thank you for this video I am gay and I've had a couple years of sign language but I don't remember a lot of it and I don't know everything I don't and I really don't want to re-watch videos on ordering things I already know so it's nice to see stuff from for people that aren't just doing basic sign language
So, I only just finished ASL 1 so I could be just mixing things up, feel free to correct me, but the sign you use here for transgender looks the same or almost the same as the sign my ASL teacher at Gallaudet gave me for Autistic...? (It was definitely a one handed sign that came together at the chest like that...I can't seem to find a video of that sign online) In fairness, she did recommend fingerspelling it instead but as my son is Autistic it would be awful nice to have a sign for it as it gets tedious to spell and he can't spell it yet.
They do use similar handshapes, but the motions are different. Transgender, as I show here, is a twisting motion moving horizontally using only one hand and the palm is facing up. Autistic uses both hands. Lifeprint has a demonstration: www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/a/autism.htm It's pretty much the sign for include, but signed towards your body.
Thanks for replying! Interesting! It looks like there are several signs for Autistic with varying histories and levels of acceptance. The one my teacher showed me was definitely one handed but, having looked at the Lifeprint example you posted, I do think hers was palm down but otherwise very much like the way you sign trans in the video... As the Autistic community has its own spectrum and its own discussions of language use (in English, this debate centers on "person first" [person with autism] vs "identity first" [Autistic person] language) and symbol usage (puzzle pieces or rainbow infinity symbols [for Neurodiversity]...people, not puzzles) I think I'll continue to fingerspell it until I find some Autistic Deaf people to ask about their preferred signs. When talking about my son I mostly just spell "Fred" anyway :) (If you know any Autistic Deaf content creators, please link them?)
for "gender" could you do G starting at the top of the head and then just going down to the chin? Not bouncing, for binary, but like a slide, indicating a spectrum?
Sliding would be better than bouncing but I’m still ehh about it for a few reasons. First, it’s on the face and in the same area and a similar motion as the sign for sex, so I’d rather avoid that because they are completely different concepts. Second, you’re right, sliding could indicate a spectrum, but also it’s kind of difficult because it suggests the spectrum is woman/man (referring to the previous comment about sex, and the fact that all masculine signs are on the upper part of the face, and all feminine signs are on the lower) and everything in between. What about non binary people? Where do they fall on that spectrum? It’s not the middle, because that’s “half man, half woman” and some enbies don’t feel gender at all. Also, genderqueer people? Maveriques, neutrois, pangender, agender, all the others? There’s plenty that doesn’t fit between a woman/man spectrum. Does that make sense?
Sliding would be better than bouncing but I’m still ehh about it for a few reasons. First, it’s on the face and in the same area and a similar motion as the sign for sex, so I’d rather avoid that because they are completely different concepts. Second, you’re right, sliding could indicate a spectrum, but also it’s kind of difficult because it suggests the spectrum is woman/man (referring to the previous comment about sex, and the fact that all masculine signs are on the upper part of the face, and all feminine signs are on the lower) and everything in between. What about non binary people? Where do they fall on that spectrum? It’s not the middle, because that’s “half man, half woman” and some enbies don’t feel gender at all. Also, genderqueer people? Maveriques, neutrois, pangender, agender, all the others? There’s plenty that doesn’t fit between a woman/man spectrum. Does that make sense?
Hello Rogan, I hope you answer this, I am hoping to become an Interpreter , I was wondering about the signs that would be used in Court, legal meetings... Would they stay the same ?
This was awesome to learn and hear a bit of background about. I'm a student at University Wisconsin Eau Claire and in ASL 2 they taught the sign for Gay being the "G" touching the chin. You said "you can see why it's an issue" but I actually don't. Could you/someone explain to me please?
Similar to why you wouldn't sign lesbian with the curve between the fingers touching your chin. It looks a bit too much like the sexual act. Also, generally in ASL, the feminine signs are signed below the nose (typically on the chin or the cheek) while the masculine signs are above the nose (typically on the temple or forehead). (Specifically, signs that are gendered such as man/woman, father/mother, niece/nephew, etc.) So by putting the G on the chin, it makes the sign feminine, and that feels a bit stereotyping.
Is there a ASL sign for Apothisexual/Apothiromantic (sex/romance repulsed, though dysphoria is a more accurate description of the reaction)? I know they are newer but it would be cool if there was a sign. I'm learning ASL on my own and I'd like to know how to identify myself with ASL as that will make me much more comfortable using it.
Not that I'm aware of! There aren't really many queer signs yet apart from what I mention in this video, because like in mainstream society, many of the terms are "new" to the Deaf community. The ones I mention are words that are often used, or at least used much more than most of the other terms, and are more known in mainstream society.
Hey, I love this!! I'm a hearing nonbinary person who recently started learning ASL and it's always hard to answer the question of whether I'm a boy or girl. I was wondering if there's a way to clarify pronouns in ASL? Like, does the word "pronoun" have a sign? This video is super helpful!
I would point you to my other video that you've seen, Gender Neutral/Inclusive Signs. There is not a sign for "pronoun" as far as I know, it's just spelled out, but you can say "I'm NB" spelling it like that, or spelling the whole thing out.
Hi. As a gay non-binary person who is not Deaf or deaf, can you please explain why the "gay" and "lesbian" signs are not preferred? My idea is that it was gendered feminine, being on the chin and all.
Even thou I’m straight, I’m glad you bring this up so I can learn what the proper way is to sign with respect for all the variety of individuals. I have one question abt transgender sign. I usually sign Transgender like using “T” on top of the chest near the throat and twisting T from the right to the left. I wonder it is accepted or must be dismissed then use your way like I see your sign in your video like from exterior to interior. I learned this “T” from the Deaf School in MD. It is like changing the particular gender from there to specific gender. I very much appreciate your video.
A lot of these signs are new to me! You might be interested in checking out www.queerasl.com, which was started by a friend of mine in BC, Canada. Surprisingly, their sign for "queer" is completely different from the one you use.
Ooh, not far from me! (I live in WA, only a hour and halfish from Vancouver BC.) I'm not surprised, it is a different country after all! Even though they sign ASL too, Canadians have quite a few signs that aren't in American ASL. Plus, I got my sign from the international community, that's how they usually sign queer or LGBTQ in International Sign.
Rogan Shannon The amount of signs you've picked up from other countries is impressive! I know a handful (what a perfect deaf pun) of Swiss-German Sign Language and a tiny bit of LSQ (I'm an Anglo living in Montreal and I've yet to connect with the Deaf community here). I've just added you to Twitter/Instagram. I'm sure we have some mutual friends... let's see!
Thanks, I have a thing for language! Plus it didn't hurt I was in Denmark for nine months (two months of that in Australia), at an international school. So we constantly had people from all over coming and going. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we did!
I keep meaning to go up to Vancouver but I'm too broke! If you go on the website, they show a visual of how it's signed :) I've seen it before, I just completely forgot about it :P
As a hearing person attempting to learn more acceptable ASL rules...I feel a bit reluctant to interact with the deaf community. I don't want to insult or be dis respectful to anyone. Even the spoken words of the hearing...can be so confusing. Why isn't ASL taught in grade school or high school? I would have loved to have learned to sign...even just a little. Education should cover all forms of communication if possible. Thank you for your channel...this is very informative.
sorry for the confusion, but doesn't "bi" imply two as much as any of those signs? (i've seen many people also say "bi" means "two" as in "both my own gender and other genders", but wouldn't that apply to any 2 too?)
How do you not have more subs? Honestly, your videos have been awesome so far. I only just found you. I am Australian and live in Australia and am trying to teach myself Auslan. I have a few apps to help me and know some basics so far.
This is an amazing video, I didn’t realize just how many signs there were for the queer community and I love it. I saw one where Lesbian was the L across the chin, where you chin kinda rests in the space between your thumb and pointer. Is that an accepted sign or should I use the pointer finger on my chin L instead?
Some people do sign it that way, but I would suggest sticking with the index finger on the chin, because the alternative can easily look like the sexual act sooo yeah.
hi, cishet hearing person here, so please take my ignorant questions in the spirit they're intended 🙇 regarding a sign for "gender", obviously the g-initialized [sex] is (1) initialized, so it kinda smells like Signed English and (2) inherits all the negatives from the sign for [sex]. but since it's a fairly obvious/clear sign, I imagine it gets a lot of use. so I was thinking, couldn't one alleviate some of the problems with the implied gender binary by, instead of using two contact points, making the movement one smooth contact (kinda more like [shave]), thus more like a continuous spectrum of genders, rather than a binary? i would think it would still be immediately recognizable to anyone who knew the [g-sex] sign, but would be at least a little less problematic? just a thought. obviously best would be for the Deaf community to agree on a better term generally. would love to hear your thoughts [=
That does reduce the problematicity a little bit, but by keeping it on the face, it still has strong ties to masculine/feminine signs being above or below the nose on the forehead/chin. It's something to consider anyway
I know I'm about 5years late and we probably have a sign for it now. But if we don't, I'd love to make a suggestion for Bi! The letter B with the pinky outstretched away from the other fingers. Like combining the two letters, almost
on the subject of bisexual, bi does indicate an attraction to the two *major* genders, which are male and female. Yes, there are other genders that people prefer to identify as, and that's perfectly fine. I 100% support that and them as people, we here in the lgbt+ community need to stick together and support each other. This being said, the prefix "bi" literally means 2. And again, bisexuality is the attraction to both male and female people, so indicating that there is more than 2 */in that portion of the video/* was not completely necessary. I'm not throwing any shade or anything, I mean everyone is allowed to think what they want and feel how they feel, but that's just how I personally feel about it. The video as a whole was great!!
Also, including the other genders in bisexual, no longer makes it mean bisexual. That brings in pansexuality. Pan and Bi are mixed up way too often, so I think it's the best idea to keep the 2. (Personally, I agree and find it easiest and most clear to fingerspell. It just keeps everything simple and to the point.)
THIS IS SO GREAT! Thank you for this. My questions: If my gender isn't male or female, would I convey it by fingerspelling the name of my gender? Also, is the concept of the collection of nonbinary genders something that people in the deaf culture (aside from you) are generally aware of?
You're welcome! Yes you would fingerspell it, to my knowledge signs haven't really been created for the lesser-known genders yet. I think generally, the deaf community is a little more aware about the queer community and all its variations than society at general. But like in the general population, it depends a lot on where you are, such as a big city or a rural town.
As a deaf female lesbian myself I am so perfectly fine with all of those terms you were saying and especially with the word 'intersex'. I wish I could speak properly for people to understand what I am saying. When I am chatting with hearing (non-deaf) persons on social media or in person they can't even understand what the heck I am saying neither speaking nor sign which I get irritated by. Even though I really do love educating people but though txt ofc which I am okay with. It's usually the LGBTQA+ not having the (I) intersex because those are people who are born with the sex characteristics that is not considered to be a fully male nor a fully female biology. When it comes to that topic of intersex and educating people because my childhood bestfriend my wife (a hearing person) is an intersex person herself.
What about sign for "Gender" being "inside chest" you actually signed it when you were saying how you don't like the sign for "G" gender. "Inside self" is how one feels.
Wow I've never thought about the signs for bisexual like you do. I've always used the sign 2 fingers going over 2 finger on you other hand, it's never seemed offensive to me I wonder if a lot of people feel that way about it?
I don't think it's offensive, it just would often imply the wrong idea that it's one or the other at a time, not both/all at the same time. Bisexuals usually are attracted to more than one gender at the same time.
So I have often thought about the sign for gender, the sign for the concept of “inner-being” like you had shown would really be a good one in my opinion, especially since it relates to the sign transgender. However, that is a common sign used, at least in my area, for Autism. So I think that could be confusing. I am still seeking a sign for gender as well. All I have seen is signs with initialized features, SEE style.... So for now I guess I will continue to fingerspell.
This is great!! I'm learning to do sign language (I want to learn a few languages to better communicate with different people, I thought this would be a good starting one :D) and I was wondering how to sign things like gay and trans since I'm trans and pace (panromantic asexual lol) This will be handy if my gender identity or sexuality ever comes up with someone who is deaf I'll be sure to teach other people about these signs too! I'm sure lots of other LGBT+ people would like to learn these signs :D
Someone else asked the same question on this video, and my response was this: It's hard to explain, but my signing subconscious tells me it's wrong. I think it might have to do with the fact that there's no reasoning for the sign being on the chin other than a sexual act. The sign for lesbian kiiiiiiind of has reasoning, it's sometimes said to do with lipstick. BUT it's also gender-based (which is so stereotypical but there it is). On the face, nearly ALL masculine signs are signed above the nose and nearly ALL feminine signs are signed below the nose. So following that formula, gay shouldn't be signed on the chin yet it is. That feeds into the stereotype that all gay people are feminine (which is definitely not true), but also trying to sign something with a G above the nose makes no sense. It just doesn't work in sign, there are no signs that I can think of that use G in that area except for one. The sign for peabrain is done on the forehead and uses a G handshape. Soooo yeah there you go.
Does the Deaf community have a sign for "nonbinary" yet, or should I just stick to fingerspelling it for now? Also, thank you so much for the video! It was very informative for a queer, hearing person learning ASL/PSE! ^^
Arkytior Sam Acker i've been deaf since birth and involved in the deaf community since birth as well, and i personally never saw someone using a sign for the word "nonbinary". It's usually spelt out. i would love for a nonbinary deaf person to come out with an excellent sign for "nonbinary", so my suggestion would be to stick to finger spelling it for now! :D
Just wanna say thanks for making this! My friend (who isn't deaf or anything) told my lesbian was signed with an L under the chin- not touching the chin, and since I'm in ASL classes i didn't want to sign anything wrong lol. ❤💛💙
Generally, people should be signing with the tip of their finger touching their chin, but there are some people who are self-identified lesbians who prefer signing it with the L under their chin. So it's not "wrong," just a personal preference.
I don't know anything of your background. When you mentioned "it's my personal ......" it's hard for me to determine what's acceptable and what's not used, etc. In other words, I don't find myself convinced :-(
I am queer myself, and most of these signs are ones that are currently used in the community. I do say if the sign is a suggestion or one that shouldn't be used.
I just realized you’re a deaf UA-camr I was like half into the video and I couldn’t hear anything and I thought my phone was broken 😂 anyways great video
Awesome video, thank you! Curious, why did you have a problem with the sign for "bisexual" indicating only 2 genders? I understand that there are more than 2 genders of course, but I thought the term "bisexual" meant specifically attracted to men or women, whereas pansexual would be attraction to any gender, right? Or do I have a misunderstanding about the terms? Thanks :)
Ah, yes that's the misconception a lot of people have with the term "bisexual." Before you read all the below, keep in mind that I personally am fine with using queer, bi, or pan for myself. BUT some people disagree and say they're all entirely distinct terms, and that's fine. Just keep that in mind :) Many people think that because bi = two, it means bisexuals are attracted to only two genders. I personally, and it would seem a growing number of people, define bisexuality as the potential to be attracted to more than one gender. That number could be finite or not. Meaning a person could be attracted to literally only two genders. Another could be attracted to three - men, women, non-binary. But another could say that they know they are attracted to at least two, but aren't closed off to the possibility of more. Pansexual is indeed attraction to any person, regardless of gender identity/sex. I like Robyn Ochs' definition of bisexuality, even though it is a bit long: I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted - romantically and/or sexually - to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.
Why do you not like "gay" signed as G tapping the chin? I assume that it has some sort of similarity to a negative sign maybe? But i'm fairly new to all of this still (despite having been teaching myself ASL for almost the past year) so I'm still not too clear on everything ^^'
It's not that I don't LIKE it, it just doesn't feel right. Besides, if you think about it, it can look like a sexual act. It's worse with a certain way of signing lesbian, that's why I sign it only one way (the one I showed in this) or spell it.
Do you mind explaining what about it doesn't feel right? I've never seen that opinion before except for the queer community rejecting the English words (not the signs) because it can imply old fashioned ideas about gender.
Same question here... if you don't mind explaining, Rogan. If it's something too intimate to explain publicly, I'll understand!
It's hard to explain, but my signing subconscious tells me it's wrong. I think it might have to do with the fact that there's no reasoning for the sign being on the chin other than a sexual act. The sign for lesbian kiiiiiiind of has reasoning, it's sometimes said to do with lipstick. BUT it's also gender-based (which is so stereotypical but there it is). On the face, nearly ALL masculine signs are signed above the nose and nearly ALL feminine signs are signed below the nose. So following that formula, gay shouldn't be signed on the chin yet it is. That feeds into the stereotype that all gay people are feminine (which is definitely not true), but also trying to sign something with a G above the nose makes no sense. It just doesn't work in sign, there are no signs that I can think of that use G in that area except for one. The sign for peabrain is done on the forehead and uses a G handshape. Soooo yeah there you go.
From my understanding, it comes from the fact that it was also used as "queer" in a derogatory way in the past (As you know, G and Q are the same handshape). And just as some people embrace the term queer, others dislike it, hence the problem with the sign
Yesterday my Deaf ASL professor taught us how to sign gay, lesbian, and partner, and that made me all the more curious about other LGBT+ signs. I approached him after class, asking how to sign queer, since that's the word I feel most comfortable using to identify myself. He had never even heard the word queer before and didn't know what it meant, which sparked a long conversation about LGBT+ culture in the Deaf community. I helped him understand what queer meant, but still lacked a sign, so I did some digging on my own and found your video. Thanks for this :) I'm sending it to my professor so that he can learn more too!
Yay I'm glad this can be of help! That was the whole purpose of making this :)
This has the American sign for Queer :)
ua-cam.com/video/8HX0HGa-pok/v-deo.html
I'm a hearing person brushing up on my asl while I prepare for a date with a deaf girl! This is such a useful video :D
i know this is three years late… but i hope it went well! :]
Rohan, I’m learning sign...for my grandson who has Down syndrome....I’m a soft butch Grama. You made my heart”SMILE”...when you signed QUEER!!! Dude, I love you....Thanks for being you, and being there for us...
As a genderfluid person learning ASL and lipreading this video is so nicely put together and i love it!!!! Thank you!!
hey i’m genderfluid too!
oh and learning asl
Im a deaf teacher at my church and somehow i want to make it known to others that I am ace/asexual and help the deaf at my ministry understand the LGBTQ+ community. So this was really helpful
:D :D :D
I was just going to tweet this to you but it seems you've already seen it! :D
Ash Hardell
Ash! ❤💜💙
HI ASH!!!!!! I was wondering if you would see this!
I love your Chanel Im thinking of coming out to my mom in a few days
Ash Hardell ASHHHH ILYYYY
thanks for making this video! i'm learning asl and couldn't find many people talking about queer signs, so this was super helpful !
Thank you so much. this is the stuff that they wont teach us ASL students in school. As a queer person who would really like to meet new deaf and HoH people these signs are important to know, expeaially in dating.
Haha! I love how you signed "I'm rambling now so I'm going to stop signing." You're cutting your hands! HAHA!!! (At 12:10)
The Deaf community loves doing that! If we're referencing shutting up verbally, we'll sign [cut] in front of our mouth. I think I'll mention/explain it in my next ASL Ponderings video for those who don't know sign :)
this was a very, very, good video! I've been practicing sign language for about...5 weeks now, and this was of course a necessity to learn😂😉 It was quite refreshing how it had no audio, and was quite helpful how you mouthed the words along to it, and the captioning😄 and I loved how you refreshed a lot of the signs so they would go out of the mindset of there only being 2 genders. over all amazing, Thanks for the video, mate!
I hope your ASL is going well. :)
I’m a lesbian with complete hearing loss in one ear and iffy hearing in the other. This was really helpful in learning new signs and unlearning old signs that are strictly binary or could be construed as offensive. Thank you so much for your explanations!
Thank you so mcuh! I'm an ASL student in Illinois and we don't have any signs like this in our cirriculum and I found it difficult to find a way to sign things about a famous hard of hearing celebrity I was doing a project on with a transitioning sexuality. This video helped me a lot and I got extra points for learning something so new to the signing world in our area! I really appriciate the help you probably didn't realize you'd give me!
Yay! I made this video with the purpose of helping people who look for these! I'm fully aware that these signs are usually not taught in ASL curriculums, and interpreters have to learn them on the fly or through their own research.
I really love that this video exists, I'm a bisexual ASL student in rural Kentucky, so it's not like my teacher is going to teach this stuff. I appreciate you!
So my friend said someone told them that to reference a non-bianary person in asl (similar to using "they" in English) you put your thumb on your cheek bone with you palm open. Similar to a c-handshape.
Huh, I've never seen that, so I'm having difficulty picturing what it would look like. Any chance there's a video somewhere with that sign in it? Also, I recently made a video about gender neutral/inclusive signs where I talk about "they" in ASL: ua-cam.com/video/sv_gRXrY558/v-deo.html
Rogan Shannon oh. Yay! That's what I was looking for yesterday! I wasn't able to find anything. So my friend's friend's professor told them that so I sadly don't have a video.
I guess a better way to describe it is the same handshape you would use for man or woman but on the cheek bone and then down to the chest, sorry. I didn't describe it well.
Ah yeah, that makes sense.
Rogan Shannon okay, I'm glad I made it more clear
Funny I just watched a video with the author of that book, The ABC's of LGBT+, and then here you were referencing it lol. Clearly one I need to buy!
It's a fantastic read!
[Jill] Loved this video! You have some great explanations and suggestions on signs. Great job!
Thank you!!
omg thank you so much for making this video!! ive been learning asl for a while now and just last year i came out as ace, and a month ago panromantic, and I was looking for videos about queer signs. i just wanted to say thank you so much!!!!
I'm glad you mentioned it whenever a sign was too binary or in other ways not appropriate. I don't really know sign language so I wouldn't have known by myself.
I can't remember when I saw this, but I once saw a suggestion for the gay and lesbian signs to be G tapping the cheek (palm against the cheek) and L the same way. I will try to find the blog post I saw it on and link that. It makes me think of a kiss on the cheek, so maybe that would be better than the current signs? A suggestion.
Hm, I'd have to see it to be sure I'm getting the sign right. It'd be great if you can find the post! I'm curious.
Rogan Shannon I've found it mentioned on multiple sites, but so far this is the only one that had a visual (for lesbian, still looking for gay): www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/l/lesbian.htm
Interesting... I don't know how I feel about that one. It doesn't feel right, we don't have that many signs on the side of the face, especially in the way that's signed.
Thank you so much for creating this, Rogan! As a queer, nonbinary person who is just beginning to learn ASL, this video gives me signs that help me feel informed and valued.
I've been thinking about how to move the sign for "gender" away from a binary, and I wonder if you could do the second variant you do but keep your dominant hand in place instead of moving from top to bottom--so a "g" tapped twice on an open palm. That would make it similar to the sign for "identity," but with a "g" instead of an "i".
Yay! I'm glad you're learning ASL, and that this is of help!
Ooh that's actually not a bad idea! I've been thinking about trying to reach out to my international network of deaf friends and seeing what their countries use for that word. I'm sure a lot of them are binary signs, but there just might be something interesting!
Thank you Rogan! Most of these signs aren't in online ASL dictionaries so they're very helpful :)
Also the sign for "identity" in Dutch Sign Language is the letter i that you push on your heart.
I believe most International Sign signs the Dutch way or the Finnish way. My school group tended to sign the Finnish way because one of our teachers always signed it that way (and she's from Finland).
Great video. I'm studying ASL and hope to get into some gender studies classes next fall so this is the perfect crossover for me.
I'm glad to know that!
Lesbian here. You are amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this and being so thoughtful with it.
I just started college at RIT, its a very fruity and inclusive campus with a large amount of hard of hearing/hearing impaired/deaf people so these are really good to know, thanks!
You seem like such a nice person!!! Btw I love this vid!!
I love this video. Rogan is so caring and sweet and this video is so important
I personally really like the idea of the two French Xs (bent index and middle finger) on top of each other to describe different multi-gender sexualities. Maybe not the back and forth, since that's kinda exclusionary as you said, but a clockwise-direction circle around for bi, as most bi people like most, if not all genders, one circle in the opposite direction (counter-clockwise) for polysexual, twisting the top hand for omnisexual, circling the top hand multiple times for pansexual, and doing the motion for "get-up" with the same handshape for demisexual. I feel like this connects all the multi-gender attractions together and doesn't connect the signs themselves too much to English. I do also like the bouncing G over the heart for gender, and maybe you can combine the sexuality titles with that to create a compound sign for the appropriate gender (In gloss: GENDER DEMISEXUAL or DEMISEXUAL GENDER for demigender, the demisexual being changed to just demi in that context)
Very interesting with the double Xs. I'm pretty sure that the French X requires the index, middle, and thumb to move inwards, but it's an interesting thought. To me, it kind of feels like it'd require memorization of which movement means what. It doesn't feel natural to me, if that makes sense.
As for the G over the heart, if it's a circle motion, that might work, because it'd be similar to character, personality, etc., but it'd still be using a letter so I don't know. If it's bouncing, then that becomes the ASL sign for guilty, so we definitely don't want that! :)
This is so interesting! Hearing people often struggle with queer terminology, but not having a sign for it must get frustrating at times. Do you think it's easier now with the internet for people pick up on these new signs? Do you find yourself having to explain them to people who aren't as familiar? As a hearing person I feel like I'm more likely to avoid using words that people won't understand, rather than trying to explain them to people.
We do a lot of fingerspelling in ASL! (I have a whole video about that :P ) I think it is definitely easier to spread signs, thanks to the Internet, and especially groups like ASL That! It's a Facebook group where people ask questions about how to sign a word, or discuss a new sign, really just for ASL and linguistics discussion in general. Well, I use the word linguistics, but the group is very informal and anyone can join.
I often find myself explaining words, but that's good - because that means they learn something new, and that word goes just that little bit further. It does depend on the situation though. If it's at a party or a situation where it's a place to have fun, I will sometimes avoid using those words if I don't feel like explaining anything.
I personally like bisexual with the concept two, my understanding of bisexuality is that gender is an important concept, and by using two we can see that they can go with either side of the spectrum. My understanding of pansexual is that gender is not important when it comes to partners, it’s almost like gender is “invisible” or a simple physical trait (like having brown eyes or wearing glasses). This is what I identify with. I’m not omnisexual, though, which I understand to be open to any gender. This is more similar to how you signed pansexual as open to any gender. That being said, the meaning of these words is probably different in different communities, which is why it’s so cool that you posted the video with super insightful and thoughtful comments. Cheers!
Thank you so much for watching and commenting!
Here in spain we sign gender with a flow of "boy"-"girl" which is also centered in the binary, but in general I haven´t seen any other option in LSE
Can we just get the conference discussions of signers who actually understand queer terminology to dish this all out? (Obviously with priority given to Deaf people with the identities in question.) I know we'll never arrive at a truly standardized system for these words, but it's been weighing on me for so long how unresolved this is... Thank you for doing this kind of work, it's super important to at least initiate these conversations!!!
This was really informative! thank you!
I REALLY love this video. I've had a lot of trouble finding queer ASL vocab, and I really appreciate how in-depth these explanations are, and your acknowledgement of the problems with signs that rely too heavily on binary gender or biological sex. I only wish it were slowed down a little bit, because I'm super new to ASL and sometimes it's hard to follow along, or i have to back up the video a few times to see exactly what's being signed. Either way, thank you so much for sharing.
Yay! That was the whole reason for making this video, I know this info is hard to find online. Thank you, I made sure to add the info about binary/biological stuff, because for new signers it's not something they'd know or think of. You can slow it down! UA-cam has this feature where you can slow down or speed up a video, if you click on the gear icon you'll find it there. I use it all the time :P
@@RoganShannon13 I also love this video! I've been studying ASL for about 10 years now, but I'm in a very conservative area, so this topic doesn't come up much. I really appreciate how thorough you were! I'm curious, though... The English word "bisexual" (which from what I can tell, your sign #BI is based on) is binary ("bi" is Latin for "two"), and from my understanding, people who are bisexual are attracted to the two traditional genders. I would think that because of all of this, the signs focusing on two genders would be fitting. Wouldn't people attracted to more than those two tend to identify as pansexual? Again, I am in a very conservative area, so please forgive my ignorance. I'm trying to learn!
@@alyssameldrum950 people who are bi also say that they are attracted to 'their gender and another' and many are attracted to genderfluid or nb individuals. It really has to do with which term they identify with better, especially if they grew up when pansexual was still not that popular.
Alyssa - traditionally, yes, bi has meant attracted to men and women. But in the past few years, more people have modified the definition to what BookWerm said, and I'm one of them. I use queer, bi, pan interchangeably for myself, but not for others. Always ask people! I tend to prefer bi, I don't really feel a connection with pan because it's essentially attraction to _all_ genders. I feel like I can't know that for sure, so bi for me is attraction to my gender and any other gender. ALSO! Bi can mean two genders, sure, but it doesn't necessarily have to be man/woman. It could be man/nonbinary, woman/nonbinary. The signs I show, some of them are focused on the male/female binary, which is why I'd rather avoid them.
I love this video! Good job dude
There's another sign for "lesbian" in which the fingers of the L handshape are placed so that the mouth is between them-in other words, it refers to cunnilingus. From what I've read, this is a _very_ old and derogatory sign, and nowadays, it's used primarily in a homophobic context.
I'm aware of that sign, but what you said in your comment is exactly why I didn't include it in this.
trying hard to learn sign language.. can still hear some what. but have been totaly deaf on three occasions, and deaf in my right ear on 2 occasions. I find it hard to read the sutitle sand follow the hand signals, which are too fast for me to follow.
You can slow down the video by clicking on the gear icon then speed!
@@RoganShannon13 much appeciated.
Your expressions crack me up. Especially when you are not that comfortable with a particular sign. Oh my gosh! So funny!
you probably wont see this but my ASL teacher(im in middle school and it was a language option) i sometimes trust more with knowing my identity than even my parents. and i dont know if she knows these signs but it would be fun to sign ace,aro and trans
I love this so much You explain things so well! I'm definitely subscribing!
Great video, I’m learning asl & it’s awesome to see videos on topics like this for vocab I use regularly enough to want to know in asl too. By the way, your fingerspelling is amazing and very intimidating loll
The sign for queer is very similar in Dutch sign language, but the non-dominant hand is a closed hand with the index finger extended up :)
I've seen that here as well, not as often though! That seems to be more used internationally.
My brain shut off and told me I could turn the sound on for this video but then I remembered it's in sign
Thanks for the lesson, this was super helpful! Hopefully as acceptance, understanding and empathy of the queer community grows some of these questionable signs will fall out of use and have a more accepted version that better captures what they're trying to say. I can see why you're questionable about the bi signs and the gay sign.
Oh my gosh this is so wonderful thank you for this video I am gay and I've had a couple years of sign language but I don't remember a lot of it and I don't know everything I don't and I really don't want to re-watch videos on ordering things I already know so it's nice to see stuff from for people that aren't just doing basic sign language
Thank you for making this video. It was really helpful!
So, I only just finished ASL 1 so I could be just mixing things up, feel free to correct me, but the sign you use here for transgender looks the same or almost the same as the sign my ASL teacher at Gallaudet gave me for Autistic...? (It was definitely a one handed sign that came together at the chest like that...I can't seem to find a video of that sign online) In fairness, she did recommend fingerspelling it instead but as my son is Autistic it would be awful nice to have a sign for it as it gets tedious to spell and he can't spell it yet.
They do use similar handshapes, but the motions are different. Transgender, as I show here, is a twisting motion moving horizontally using only one hand and the palm is facing up. Autistic uses both hands. Lifeprint has a demonstration: www.lifeprint.com/asl101/pages-signs/a/autism.htm It's pretty much the sign for include, but signed towards your body.
Thanks for replying!
Interesting! It looks like there are several signs for Autistic with varying histories and levels of acceptance. The one my teacher showed me was definitely one handed but, having looked at the Lifeprint example you posted, I do think hers was palm down but otherwise very much like the way you sign trans in the video... As the Autistic community has its own spectrum and its own discussions of language use (in English, this debate centers on "person first" [person with autism] vs "identity first" [Autistic person] language) and symbol usage (puzzle pieces or rainbow infinity symbols [for Neurodiversity]...people, not puzzles) I think I'll continue to fingerspell it until I find some Autistic Deaf people to ask about their preferred signs. When talking about my son I mostly just spell "Fred" anyway :)
(If you know any Autistic Deaf content creators, please link them?)
Thank you!!!!!!! I'm interpreting a psychology class and we are just starting the human sexuality chapter, so this is perfect+++ timing!!!!! 😍🌈💜
for "gender" could you do G starting at the top of the head and then just going down to the chin? Not bouncing, for binary, but like a slide, indicating a spectrum?
Sliding would be better than bouncing but I’m still ehh about it for a few reasons. First, it’s on the face and in the same area and a similar motion as the sign for sex, so I’d rather avoid that because they are completely different concepts. Second, you’re right, sliding could indicate a spectrum, but also it’s kind of difficult because it suggests the spectrum is woman/man (referring to the previous comment about sex, and the fact that all masculine signs are on the upper part of the face, and all feminine signs are on the lower) and everything in between. What about non binary people? Where do they fall on that spectrum? It’s not the middle, because that’s “half man, half woman” and some enbies don’t feel gender at all. Also, genderqueer people? Maveriques, neutrois, pangender, agender, all the others? There’s plenty that doesn’t fit between a woman/man spectrum. Does that make sense?
Sliding would be better than bouncing but I’m still ehh about it for a few reasons. First, it’s on the face and in the same area and a similar motion as the sign for sex, so I’d rather avoid that because they are completely different concepts. Second, you’re right, sliding could indicate a spectrum, but also it’s kind of difficult because it suggests the spectrum is woman/man (referring to the previous comment about sex, and the fact that all masculine signs are on the upper part of the face, and all feminine signs are on the lower) and everything in between. What about non binary people? Where do they fall on that spectrum? It’s not the middle, because that’s “half man, half woman” and some enbies don’t feel gender at all. Also, genderqueer people? Maveriques, neutrois, pangender, agender, all the others? There’s plenty that doesn’t fit between a woman/man spectrum. Does that make sense?
Oh, okay, yes, that makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to respond!
Hello Rogan, I hope you answer this, I am hoping to become an Interpreter , I was wondering about the signs that would be used in Court, legal meetings... Would they stay the same ?
This was awesome to learn and hear a bit of background about. I'm a student at University Wisconsin Eau Claire and in ASL 2 they taught the sign for Gay being the "G" touching the chin. You said "you can see why it's an issue" but I actually don't. Could you/someone explain to me please?
Similar to why you wouldn't sign lesbian with the curve between the fingers touching your chin. It looks a bit too much like the sexual act. Also, generally in ASL, the feminine signs are signed below the nose (typically on the chin or the cheek) while the masculine signs are above the nose (typically on the temple or forehead). (Specifically, signs that are gendered such as man/woman, father/mother, niece/nephew, etc.) So by putting the G on the chin, it makes the sign feminine, and that feels a bit stereotyping.
*turns captions on*
Great video thanks so much Rogan!
Excellent discussion - thank you for really analyzing signs that are sometimes used, even if you don't recommend them :)
with the bi thing, bi is attraction to men and woman and pansexual is attraction to any gender!
Is there a ASL sign for Apothisexual/Apothiromantic (sex/romance repulsed, though dysphoria is a more accurate description of the reaction)? I know they are newer but it would be cool if there was a sign. I'm learning ASL on my own and I'd like to know how to identify myself with ASL as that will make me much more comfortable using it.
Not that I'm aware of! There aren't really many queer signs yet apart from what I mention in this video, because like in mainstream society, many of the terms are "new" to the Deaf community. The ones I mention are words that are often used, or at least used much more than most of the other terms, and are more known in mainstream society.
Hi, I was wondering if you knew a sign for non-binary? Cheers
Unfortunately, I don’t know of any signs for that word yet. Most people will abbreviate it to NB, but that’s not ideal.
Hey, I love this!! I'm a hearing nonbinary person who recently started learning ASL and it's always hard to answer the question of whether I'm a boy or girl. I was wondering if there's a way to clarify pronouns in ASL? Like, does the word "pronoun" have a sign? This video is super helpful!
I would point you to my other video that you've seen, Gender Neutral/Inclusive Signs. There is not a sign for "pronoun" as far as I know, it's just spelled out, but you can say "I'm NB" spelling it like that, or spelling the whole thing out.
Well this is great thank you I put it in my favorite so I can watch it again over and over again later so I really cement them in my mind
Hi. As a gay non-binary person who is not Deaf or deaf, can you please explain why the "gay" and "lesbian" signs are not preferred? My idea is that it was gendered feminine, being on the chin and all.
Even thou I’m straight, I’m glad you bring this up so I can learn what the proper way is to sign with respect for all the variety of individuals. I have one question abt transgender sign. I usually sign Transgender like using “T” on top of the chest near the throat and twisting T from the right to the left. I wonder it is accepted or must be dismissed then use your way like I see your sign in your video like from exterior to interior. I learned this “T” from the Deaf School in MD. It is like changing the particular gender from there to specific gender. I very much appreciate your video.
A lot of these signs are new to me! You might be interested in checking out www.queerasl.com, which was started by a friend of mine in BC, Canada.
Surprisingly, their sign for "queer" is completely different from the one you use.
Ooh, not far from me! (I live in WA, only a hour and halfish from Vancouver BC.)
I'm not surprised, it is a different country after all! Even though they sign ASL too, Canadians have quite a few signs that aren't in American ASL. Plus, I got my sign from the international community, that's how they usually sign queer or LGBTQ in International Sign.
Rogan Shannon The amount of signs you've picked up from other countries is impressive! I know a handful (what a perfect deaf pun) of Swiss-German Sign Language and a tiny bit of LSQ (I'm an Anglo living in Montreal and I've yet to connect with the Deaf community here). I've just added you to Twitter/Instagram. I'm sure we have some mutual friends... let's see!
Thanks, I have a thing for language! Plus it didn't hurt I was in Denmark for nine months (two months of that in Australia), at an international school. So we constantly had people from all over coming and going. It wouldn't surprise me at all if we did!
I keep meaning to go up to Vancouver but I'm too broke! If you go on the website, they show a visual of how it's signed :) I've seen it before, I just completely forgot about it :P
As a hearing person attempting to learn more acceptable ASL rules...I feel a bit reluctant to interact with the deaf community. I don't want to insult or be dis respectful to anyone. Even the spoken words of the hearing...can be so confusing. Why isn't ASL taught in grade school or high school? I would have loved to have learned to sign...even just a little. Education should cover all forms of communication if possible. Thank you for your channel...this is very informative.
I am from Australia and the sign for Transgender here is the same as the one you did. I think it is a beautiful sign
I can't hear a thing?
Because there's no sound, I don't use my voice in my videos
sorry for the confusion, but doesn't "bi" imply two as much as any of those signs? (i've seen many people also say "bi" means "two" as in "both my own gender and other genders", but wouldn't that apply to any 2 too?)
“[shoulder dance]”-the captions
How do you not have more subs? Honestly, your videos have been awesome so far. I only just found you. I am Australian and live in Australia and am trying to teach myself Auslan. I have a few apps to help me and know some basics so far.
Aw, thank you! That's awesome! (I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I know some Auslan from when I lived in Oz for a couple months.)
This is an amazing video, I didn’t realize just how many signs there were for the queer community and I love it. I saw one where Lesbian was the L across the chin, where you chin kinda rests in the space between your thumb and pointer. Is that an accepted sign or should I use the pointer finger on my chin L instead?
Some people do sign it that way, but I would suggest sticking with the index finger on the chin, because the alternative can easily look like the sexual act sooo yeah.
hi, cishet hearing person here, so please take my ignorant questions in the spirit they're intended 🙇
regarding a sign for "gender", obviously the g-initialized [sex] is (1) initialized, so it kinda smells like Signed English and (2) inherits all the negatives from the sign for [sex]. but since it's a fairly obvious/clear sign, I imagine it gets a lot of use.
so I was thinking, couldn't one alleviate some of the problems with the implied gender binary by, instead of using two contact points, making the movement one smooth contact (kinda more like [shave]), thus more like a continuous spectrum of genders, rather than a binary? i would think it would still be immediately recognizable to anyone who knew the [g-sex] sign, but would be at least a little less problematic?
just a thought. obviously best would be for the Deaf community to agree on a better term generally. would love to hear your thoughts [=
That does reduce the problematicity a little bit, but by keeping it on the face, it still has strong ties to masculine/feminine signs being above or below the nose on the forehead/chin. It's something to consider anyway
I know I'm about 5years late and we probably have a sign for it now. But if we don't, I'd love to make a suggestion for Bi! The letter B with the pinky outstretched away from the other fingers. Like combining the two letters, almost
Was googling for lgbt signs even though I dont speak sign language and I don’t understand anything🥲
on the subject of bisexual, bi does indicate an attraction to the two *major* genders, which are male and female. Yes, there are other genders that people prefer to identify as, and that's perfectly fine. I 100% support that and them as people, we here in the lgbt+ community need to stick together and support each other. This being said, the prefix "bi" literally means 2. And again, bisexuality is the attraction to both male and female people, so indicating that there is more than 2 */in that portion of the video/* was not completely necessary. I'm not throwing any shade or anything, I mean everyone is allowed to think what they want and feel how they feel, but that's just how I personally feel about it. The video as a whole was great!!
Also, including the other genders in bisexual, no longer makes it mean bisexual. That brings in pansexuality. Pan and Bi are mixed up way too often, so I think it's the best idea to keep the 2. (Personally, I agree and find it easiest and most clear to fingerspell. It just keeps everything simple and to the point.)
2:13
THIS IS SO GREAT! Thank you for this.
My questions: If my gender isn't male or female, would I convey it by fingerspelling the name of my gender? Also, is the concept of the collection of nonbinary genders something that people in the deaf culture (aside from you) are generally aware of?
You're welcome!
Yes you would fingerspell it, to my knowledge signs haven't really been created for the lesser-known genders yet. I think generally, the deaf community is a little more aware about the queer community and all its variations than society at general. But like in the general population, it depends a lot on where you are, such as a big city or a rural town.
As a deaf female lesbian myself I am so perfectly fine with all of those terms you were saying and especially with the word 'intersex'. I wish I could speak properly for people to understand what I am saying. When I am chatting with hearing (non-deaf) persons on social media or in person they can't even understand what the heck I am saying neither speaking nor sign which I get irritated by. Even though I really do love educating people but though txt ofc which I am okay with.
It's usually the LGBTQA+ not having the (I) intersex because those are people who are born with the sex characteristics that is not considered to be a fully male nor a fully female biology. When it comes to that topic of intersex and educating people because my childhood bestfriend my wife (a hearing person) is an intersex person herself.
What about sign for "Gender" being "inside chest" you actually signed it when you were saying how you don't like the sign for "G" gender. "Inside self" is how one feels.
1:45
That was very interesting :) I definitely learned a lot .Thanks
Wow I've never thought about the signs for bisexual like you do. I've always used the sign 2 fingers going over 2 finger on you other hand, it's never seemed offensive to me I wonder if a lot of people feel that way about it?
I don't think it's offensive, it just would often imply the wrong idea that it's one or the other at a time, not both/all at the same time. Bisexuals usually are attracted to more than one gender at the same time.
So I have often thought about the sign for gender, the sign for the concept of “inner-being” like you had shown would really be a good one in my opinion, especially since it relates to the sign transgender. However, that is a common sign used, at least in my area, for Autism. So I think that could be confusing. I am still seeking a sign for gender as well. All I have seen is signs with initialized features, SEE style.... So for now I guess I will continue to fingerspell.
That's a good thought, but it's same over most of the US - we sign autism that way. So it definitely would be confusing.
Seems like I watch too many deaf youtubers, I opened the video because I liked the headline and all of a sudden no sound again:D
This is great!! I'm learning to do sign language (I want to learn a few languages to better communicate with different people, I thought this would be a good starting one :D) and I was wondering how to sign things like gay and trans since I'm trans and pace (panromantic asexual lol)
This will be handy if my gender identity or sexuality ever comes up with someone who is deaf
I'll be sure to teach other people about these signs too! I'm sure lots of other LGBT+ people would like to learn these signs :D
oh, for gender not representing a binary, why not a "g" sliding up and down? yes there's the 2 sides but it emphasizes spectrum
Why did I turn my volume up
Why exactly would people no want to sign gay? I’m just wondering
Someone else asked the same question on this video, and my response was this:
It's hard to explain, but my signing subconscious tells me it's wrong. I think it might have to do with the fact that there's no reasoning for the sign being on the chin other than a sexual act. The sign for lesbian kiiiiiiind of has reasoning, it's sometimes said to do with lipstick. BUT it's also gender-based (which is so stereotypical but there it is). On the face, nearly ALL masculine signs are signed above the nose and nearly ALL feminine signs are signed below the nose. So following that formula, gay shouldn't be signed on the chin yet it is. That feeds into the stereotype that all gay people are feminine (which is definitely not true), but also trying to sign something with a G above the nose makes no sense. It just doesn't work in sign, there are no signs that I can think of that use G in that area except for one. The sign for peabrain is done on the forehead and uses a G handshape. Soooo yeah there you go.
Does the Deaf community have a sign for "nonbinary" yet, or should I just stick to fingerspelling it for now?
Also, thank you so much for the video! It was very informative for a queer, hearing person learning ASL/PSE! ^^
Arkytior Sam Acker i've been deaf since birth and involved in the deaf community since birth as well, and i personally never saw someone using a sign for the word "nonbinary". It's usually spelt out. i would love for a nonbinary deaf person to come out with an excellent sign for "nonbinary", so my suggestion would be to stick to finger spelling it for now! :D
Yep, there’s no official sign for it yet. We mostly spell it out, or use the abbreviations of NB or enby.
Rogan Shannon Okay! Thank you!
is he mute? idk
great, great resource!!!!
As someone who can very much hear, ASL looks very interesting, I wanna learn it! To impress my friends and in case I meet someone deaf in my life.
Just wanna say thanks for making this! My friend (who isn't deaf or anything) told my lesbian was signed with an L under the chin- not touching the chin, and since I'm in ASL classes i didn't want to sign anything wrong lol. ❤💛💙
Generally, people should be signing with the tip of their finger touching their chin, but there are some people who are self-identified lesbians who prefer signing it with the L under their chin. So it's not "wrong," just a personal preference.
I don't know anything of your background. When you mentioned "it's my personal ......" it's hard for me to determine what's acceptable and what's not used, etc. In other words, I don't find myself convinced :-(
I am queer myself, and most of these signs are ones that are currently used in the community. I do say if the sign is a suggestion or one that shouldn't be used.
where do i know u from?
No idea! I've been in several places - Ai-Media, WatchCut (Deaf People Teach series), Frontrunners... Probably a couple I've forgotten about.
U seem familiar?... U are from deaf "cut" channel?
I did do a shoot with Cut a few years ago, yes!
Oh I knew it! I never know u have UA-cam channel,?! Thanks for replying (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Awesome !
Thank you :)
I just realized you’re a deaf UA-camr I was like half into the video and I couldn’t hear anything and I thought my phone was broken 😂 anyways great video
Awesome video, thank you! Curious, why did you have a problem with the sign for "bisexual" indicating only 2 genders? I understand that there are more than 2 genders of course, but I thought the term "bisexual" meant specifically attracted to men or women, whereas pansexual would be attraction to any gender, right? Or do I have a misunderstanding about the terms? Thanks :)
Ah, yes that's the misconception a lot of people have with the term "bisexual."
Before you read all the below, keep in mind that I personally am fine with using queer, bi, or pan for myself. BUT some people disagree and say they're all entirely distinct terms, and that's fine. Just keep that in mind :)
Many people think that because bi = two, it means bisexuals are attracted to only two genders. I personally, and it would seem a growing number of people, define bisexuality as the potential to be attracted to more than one gender. That number could be finite or not. Meaning a person could be attracted to literally only two genders. Another could be attracted to three - men, women, non-binary. But another could say that they know they are attracted to at least two, but aren't closed off to the possibility of more. Pansexual is indeed attraction to any person, regardless of gender identity/sex.
I like Robyn Ochs' definition of bisexuality, even though it is a bit long: I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge that I have in myself the potential to be attracted - romantically and/or sexually - to people of more than one sex and/or gender, not necessarily at the same time, not necessarily in the same way, and not necessarily to the same degree.
Rogan Shannon That makes sense to me! That's a great definition. Thanks so much for taking the time to inform me of this!
I'm decided to learn this first Incase I ever need to come out to my parents
is there a sign for nonbinary?
Unfortunately, not yet. Currently, most people will spell it out or shorten the spelling to either NB or enby.