While video of an Atlanta Pride American Sign Language interpreter dancing to Beyoncé’s “Get Me Bodied” has gone viral online, even capturing the attention of famed deaf actor and activist Nyle DiMarco, the Las Vegas PRIDE Parade and event at Downtown Las Vegas Events Center is receiving negative attention in regards to its lack of accessibility for disabled LGBTQIA+ community members.  

sign language interpreter at pride ATL is 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/2Qxh5nPaGP

— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) October 14, 2019

Many noticed the Las Vegas Pride entertainment at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center was without an American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter. An ASL interpreter is someone trained to translate between spoken English and ASL. Sign language interpreters help people who are deaf or have hearing loss.

After these initial complaints, new issues arose regarding entertainment content found offensive by the deaf, blind and deaf-blind community. 

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Entertainer Cazwell performed a number titled “Helen Keller” with lyrics many are calling, among other things, insensitive. 

The lyrics mention Helen Keller, a deaf-blind American author, political activist, lecturer and the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. 

https://t.co/r33qIgXprD #gayvegas pic.twitter.com/Rdjp5Dlivo

— LGBTQ+ Vegas (@GayVegas) November 11, 2019

Lyrics to the song Helen Keller by Cazwell include,  “Break out the braille, Helen Keller gonna read you (ooh!)-I don’t see her, I don’t hear her either-Kicked your a** out the house cause I need room-Now I got that b***h locked in the cellar-That’s why I don’t see her, Helen Keller, I don’t see her, I don’t see her-I don’t see her, Helen Keller”

Amongst online comments in regards to accessibility, another community member stated, “I got very lucky that my partner warns me about upcoming strobe lights [...] I had a mild seizure by the end of the night. Pride is not accessible, and it should be.” 

To learn more about American Sign Language visit the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders at
www.nidcd.nih.gov. To learn more about epilepsy and seizures visit the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at www.ninds.nih.gov