Deaf interpreter at Atlanta Pride goes viral

[Transcript] A deaf man, David Cowan, who is a freelance deaf interpreter, became an internet sensation for the last week.

Atlanta Pride celebration weekend took place on October 11 to 13. There was a concert and when Beyoncé’s song “Get Me Bodied” came on, Cowan interpreted the song. Someone in the audience filmed a short clip of Cowan signing that song. Actor and model Nyle DiMarco shared that short video clip and it went viral. The video currently has 2.4 million views.

Cowan has already been interviewed by CNN, TIME magazine, Narcity, and Reddit.

The Daily Moth reached out to Cowan for an interview about his video.

COWAN:

Actually, I’d been interpreting at that event since 2000. So, soon it’ll be 20 years and the event is hosted at the Atlanta Gay Pride festival. It’s typically hosted every year during the month of October. I’ve been interpreting for drag shows and live performances. It just so happened that video went viral and my interpreting performance was being filmed by a hearing person. That particular song I was signing is called “Get Me Bodied”. I didn’t know if that meant ‘body’ or something, but luckily I got to read the lyrics then I knew just what to do! When I went up onstage, I tried to do the lyrics justice. I didn’t want to just “sign”, my interpretation needed to be equivalent to what the performers were doing. That song was written by Beyonce. Do you know her famous moves that’s done like this?

[Cowan shows Beyonce’s dance moves]

RENCA: (while chuckling)

Right, right! Yes, I know what you mean.

COWAN:

That’s from her song! The lyrics in her song was actually rather graphic, very sexy and very sultry. That’s a theme of her song and hearing people already know this, but my deaf friends along with myself and the audience were pretty taken aback and shocked. However, I cannot minimize or revise anything in the song. My interpretation needs to match the song.

RENCA:

Yes, your presentation needs to match the song.

COWAN:

Yes! I want our deaf audience to have equal access to what the hearing audience would hear. That was my goal. So I did my thing and the deaf audience seemed taken aback. I’m just passing on the message! And there were lyrics where it said “slap my booty”. While I was figuring out the translation, I knew the word ‘booty’ isn’t commonly used in the deaf community so what I did was use this interpretation for ‘slap my booty’. That’s an appropriate interpretation because it captures the message. So the deaf audience could fully understand what was happening. It just so happened that there was a hearing person there filming me on the phone and the video went viral. Keep in mind that when the video went viral, there was no sound. That was the actual reason why the video went viral. It created a guessing game for hearing people who wanted to watch, but there was no sound so they started complaining. These hearing viewers had no choice, but to rely on their eyes instead of their ears. Doing this, they’re starting to understand the message I was sending. Hearing people will still be able to see the message itself using their eyes.

RENCA:

Wow, I’m wondering about what you just said about the song “Get Me Bodied” written by Beyonce. I wonder if Beyonce herself has seen that video clip?

COWAN:

Yes.

RENCA:

Really, she did?!

COWAN:

Yes. Beyonce’s mother, Tina Knowles, actually contacted the Atlanta Gay Pride committee and asked them for my contact information.

RENCA:

Wow!

COWAN:

Then the committee told me to be ready to be contacted by Tina Knowles. I was very touched, but I actually still haven’t received any messages from her. Either way, I’m still very honored! Wow.

The weird thing that I noticed when the video went viral was that it lead to many hearing people asking me a lot of questions. Most of the time, I’m able to respond and explained the difference between Deaf Interpreters and Certified Deaf Interpreters. I also explained why they were different from hearing interpreters and all that. It’s so cool to be able to educate hearing people about our field. This one time, two people asked me some very odd questions. The first person asked me that since I didn’t hear, was I able to smell the music? This really perplexed me. Then I asked that person if they could smell something in the music? This left that person speechless. Such an unusual question! The second question, from another person, since you can’t hear, can you taste the music? Another perplexing question for me. I said, “What?!”

. Then I asked this person if they saw me licking and slobbering over the speakers in the video while I interpreted. Again, another speechless reaction. Like really?! So odd, but I’m realizing there’s information that’s not accessible to the hearing community about how we value American Sign Language and Deaf Culture. So, I’ve been taking every opportunity I can to teach, but at the back of my head, it can be really aggravating! But I got to put on this big, beautiful smile on my face as I teach! The reason why I can do this is because I have the support I need from my deaf friends.

RENCA:

Thank you Cowan for your time.

Cowan added that he wanted to thank DiMarco for sharing that video or all of this would not have been possible.

Cowan has been honored as Atlanta Pride Grand Marshal, which is considered the top award at the Atlanta Pride for the year 2017. He has been involved with ASL related films. He is also known for interpreting for politicians such as Representative John Lewis and Governor Brian Kemp.

https://time.com/5700042/atlanta-pride-david-cowan/

https://mobile.twitter.com/NyleDiMarco/status/1183776022287634433

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