Pete Buttigieg Goes Viral With ASL Response to Deaf Supporter
Pete Buttigieg Goes Viral With ASL Response to Deaf Supporter
It was in response to the young man creating a sign name for Mayor Pete.
A video of gay presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg expressing his thanks to a supporter via American Sign Language (ASL) has gone viral.
Andy Pleasants, a deaf disability advocate, has been a big supporter of Buttigieg, and decided to create a sign name for Buttigieg, which he shared via Twitter.
“Given his new logo has the imagery of a bridge and ‘build bridges, not walls,’ his sign name is P ‘bridged’ across the chest to B!” Pleasants tweeted.
None— Sandra, RN\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf4\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\ude3b\ud83d\udc30\ud83d\udc3b\ud83d\udc25\ud83e\udd99 (@Sandra, RN\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddf4\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddea\ud83d\udc36\ud83d\ude3b\ud83d\udc30\ud83d\udc3b\ud83d\udc25\ud83e\udd99) 1555351656
Though he’s been busy on the campaign trail, the presidential hopeful took the time to respond a week later.
A short video shows Buttigieg signing back to Pleasants: “Hi Andy — appreciate your support, thank you!”
\u201c@pleasantandy \ud83d\udc4b\u201d— Pete Buttigieg (@Pete Buttigieg) 1556126794
The gesture meant a lot to Andy, as he noted the burden to reach across the communication divide often falls on deaf individuals.
None— Rice Krispy Tweets (@Rice Krispy Tweets) 1556132623
And he’s not the only one who appreciated this small but loaded moment of Buttigieg reaching out.
\u201cWell, @PeteButtigieg, you're the first candidate for President that I've ever seen sign. Bravo! And @pleasantandy I like the name sign (and the story behind it) that you've given him. \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb\u201d— Marlee Matlin (@Marlee Matlin) 1556130801
\u201cI think this is pretty cool! At least people with #disabilities are being acknowledged as part of the political conversation. #buttigieg\n\nButtigieg signs message to deaf supporter who created ASL sign for 'Buttigieg' https://t.co/qAjUqPPD4L\u201d— Lucy Schmitz (@Lucy Schmitz) 1556138466
Between this and Kirsten Gillibrand spending time with the drag community, it's nice to see Democratic candidates actually making an effort to reach out to American communities that still often get overlooked. It should be the norm, but maybe we are finally moving towards that.
