Transgender: The American Sign Language (ASL) sign for "Transgender"
The ASL sign for "transgender" is a portmanteau (blending) of the signs
BEAUTIFUL, INSIDE-oneself, HEART, and CHANGE.
The sign starts as a loose 5-hand held with the palm facing somewhat
forward (comfortably) but often just palm pointing to the non-dominant
side, and then the hand and forearm twist as the fingers draw together and the
hand changes into a shape reminiscent of a flower bulb.
TRANSGENDER:
Discussion / Correspondence:
----Original Message-----
From: ███████ (email redacted to protect privacy)
To: BillVicars Sent: Sun, Mar 19, 2023 8:33 am
Good morning Dr. Bill,
I have used your site for a long time to learn various
signs. We used them when my children were small, so they could better
communicate. I am an elementary school teacher, and I use ASL with my class to
emphasize learning points. There is nothing like adding a kinetic element that
is also an important communication tool. I am also a transgender woman. I will
be speaking at several events for Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31
[2023] and
through the weekend.
I would like to include several of your videos and teach how to sign "Happy
Transgender Day of Visibility." But before I do so I would ask for some guidance
and permission. Would the signs be in the order speaking people say them in?
"Happy" "Transgender" "Day" "See/Vision" I know ASL users often create shortcuts
to make longer sign sequences quicker. Is there such a shortcut for Transgender
Day of Visibility?
Thank you so much for the important work you do,
███████ (Name redacted to protect privacy)
Hello ███████!
Happy Transgender Day of Visibility is typically signed:
HAPPY TRANSGENDER DAY SEE-SEE-SEE-(dh/ndh/dh)
The concept of “visibility” in this case is being expressed by signing SEE a few
(generally 3) times -- first with the dominant hand, then the non-dominant hand,
then the dominant hand.
( Reference: Stecker, Elsie (4/28/2021) YouTube video: "Virtual Guests for the
First Lady’s Box | 2021 Joint Session of Congress," The White House, time code
15:15, accessed 3/19/2023 at https://youtu.be/jeHXdRm1U_M?t=915 )
Another way to sign Happy Transgender Day of Visibility is to sign:
”HAPPY TRANSGENDER DAY SHOW SEE-SEE-SEE.”
( Reference: Culley, Blake (3/31/2022) ASL Connect, accessed 3/19/2023 at
https://www.facebook.com/ASLConnectOfficial/videos/282668587373190/ )
ASL signers (particularly when signing fluently) may choose to not use a
separate sign for the word "OF" when signing Transgender Day of Visibility.
In bilingual situations during which a signer is specifically attempting to
express a specific English phrase such as "Transgender Day of Visibility" and
maintain inter-language recognizability of the English phrase the signer may
choose to map to the English word "of" by either fingerspelling "of" or using
the sign sometimes labeled as CONNECT which has a variety of meanings including
but not limited to "connect, join, of, member, affiliated with, link together,
two links of a chain, etc..) If a person isn't specifically mapping ASL to
English then signing the word "of" may not be needed.
A way to sign “of” that has a high correlation with the likely intended meaning
of the word “of” in the phrase Transgender Day of Visibility” is to use the sign
glossed (labeled) as “SHOW.” Depending on the context, the concept of
“visibility” can be expressed a variety of ways including by signing CAN SEE or
even just SEE.
In the context of “Transgender Day of Visibility” it is common to see the
concept of “visibility” signed by using the SEE time twice (once with each hand)
or even three times (using alternating hands) as a way of indicating visibility
as in being seen by many (rather than an individual seeing something).
You have asked permission to teach Happy Transgender Day of Visibility at events
using my videos.
My response is certainly, feel free!
However, I encourage you to consider the goal of TDoV and the overall principal
of Transgender visibility and ask yourself if perhaps this might present an
opportunity to promote the visibility of a Transgender Deaf person?
For example you could do an internet search for “Transgender Deaf” and you can
find Transgender Deaf individuals and contact them and ask them to sign the
phrase “Happy Transgender Day of Visibility” for you. (Tip: Out of respect for
their time and effort, ask how they prefer to receive payments and then send
them a reasonable sum. Paying Deaf (and other) creators for their time also
helps avoid unintended engagement in cultural appropriation.)
Involving a Transgender Deaf person as your ASL language model would then be
elevating and providing visibility to both Transgender and Deaf people.
A brief internet search has shows a result for a person named Chella Man. Their
contact info: https://stingray-tetra-akw7.squarespace.com/contact
Or check out this video of “Interviews with Deaf Transgender people” from The
Daily Moth for more leads: https://youtu.be/kZtKkLl9lCo
Again, you are welcome to use my videos as you described but I think you could
achieve multiple goals at the same time by using a video such as the one by
Blake Culley that I referenced above. For your convenience here is the link:
https://www.facebook.com/ASLConnectOfficial/videos/282668587373190/
Sincerely,
Bill
________________________
William G. Vicars, Ed.D.
ASL University (Lifeprint.com)
TRANSGENDER:
Notes:
index-old.htm
matrix-for-sign-pages (_matrix.htm)
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