It was fascinating to read a recent BBC article that focused on GSV (Gay Sign Variant) being kept alive by two Deaf drag queens during the Edinburgh Festival this year.
One of the experienced drag queens, Mary, was keen to pass on her knowledge of GSV to her Deaf co-performer as part of their show, ‘Deaffy Drag Queens: Glitter, Gags and GSV.’
GSV was developed by the LBGTQ+ community, and for many, has been an integral part of their identity and culture.
Unfortunately, as Mary suggests, the dialect is dying out and fewer Deaf Gay people are using it. In a bid to prevent this from happening, Mary wanted to teach Danielle, a new Drag queen on the circuit, this beautiful, vibrant variant to BSL (British Sign Language).
To Danielle, a BSL user, this proved challenging, as she found it difficult to learn and describes it as ‘like a new language.’
The article sparked my interest, as I fondly remember and reminisce about the memorable times spent during my university life in Bristol. It was there whilst socialising with the Deaf Gay community, where I was lucky enough to experience expressive GSV first hand.
I have always felt a great affinity with my gay friends, whether they are D/deaf or hearing and being often alone in Bristol of an evening after lectures, I felt safe, respected and protected in the company of my Deaf Gay friends.
Like languages, terms and buzz words that were used so frequently by our parents, that fade out of use over time, it is sad to think that GSV might also be suffering the same fate.
I recall many a shared/translated conversation in a Gay nightclub, where my Deaf Gay friends took immense delight in discussing and comparing notes about their fellow clubbers of the night using GSV. Observing their facial expressions and mannerisms was hilarious and I felt very honoured to be welcomed and given an insight into their world.
Growing up, my parents conversed regularly in back slang, the East End linguistic cousin of rhyming slang, that my father used growing up. This was to prevent us knowing their private conversations, regrettably, as the younger sibling at home, I never fully mastered it.
Languages and linguistic variation have always fascinated me, which is why I followed the path I am on now teaching the beautiful, visual language that is British Sign Language.
I was taught some GSV signs all those years ago, which I have mostly forgotten now, some may have influenced my own signing back then. I remember once, using a certain sign and a native signer (who was straight), amusingly told me it was GSV at the time, so I stopped using it for a while, until I realised that the sign was used widely by straight Deaf signers, which bears out the argument that you have to be part of that community to really know the sign variations.
Please do take a moment to have a look at the clip below of Mary and Danielle demonstrating some GSV.
I for one, am really pleased to see that Mary and her colleagues are determined not to lose this wonderful part of their culture.