Co-Convenors: Kat Germain and Jennifer Brethour 

Describing Queer Identities: Exploratory Discussions about Ethics, Access and Language in Described Video Practices

For those unfamiliar, Described Video (DV) is the science and art of describing visual content audibly to people who are Blind, partially sighted, don’t/ can’t look at a screen, or otherwise find it helpful. Our basic directives are “Say what you see,” attempt to offer as close as possible experience as those watching the event, and do not editorialize.

For this roundtable discussion, Jennifer Brethour and Kat Germain invite a mixed group of 2Spirit/Queer/Trans Description Users and Performers to a discussion on Ethics, Access and Language in Described Video Practices.

The general go-to in DV is only to describe characteristics of physical identities when the information is perceived to be relevant to the plot or character.

Brethour and Germain ask: If we do describe visual characteristics of 2Spirit/Queer/Trans performers, how do we do it?

And if we don’t, aren’t we further silencing and erasing 2Spirit/Queer/Trans representation from our stories?

We believe that DV users should be allowed to understand who is and, potentially, who is not represented on screens. People need the same access to information as others do. In addition, V users, especially young ones exploring their identities, need various resources to draw upon.

While Brethour and Germain advocate for performers to describe themselves using their own words, this is not always possible.

So how do we do this? What words do we use? Are we outing people by mentioning they are, for example, wearing a chest binder? Are we excluding people from critical and potentially affirming information in their own lives?

What responsibility does the Audio Describer have? Who is that responsibility to? Is an equilibrium possible? Is it desired?

In “Describing Queer Identities,” Brethour, with the support of Germain, works to offer a space where 2Spirit/Queer/Trans folx are centred so the complicated conversations about description and identity can continue and, hopefully, be amplified.

Jennifer Brethour & Kat Germain

Bio: Jennifer Brethour and Kat Germain are Described as Video (DV) Professionals. Their work is grounded in Disability Justice, Anti-Oppression and Equity. Their combined identities include Queer, Hetro, Cis, Female, Neurodivergent, and white. They have a breadth of experience which includes work on projects with TQFF, Tangled Art + Disability, Critical Distance Centre for Curators, OUTtv, APTN & TVO, Roseneath, Native Earth Performing Arts, Indigeneity and Disability Summit, CBC, British Council, and several universities.