Pay Attention To The Hands

In a video on YouTube titled "can you pay attention to my hands mister", a young man uses American Sign Language to tell his absent boyfriend how he feels about him, and in what ways he would like to express it in person (which includes having a particular sex act in a car.) Of course, watching ASL being used can often be a beautiful thing, but never more so when the person doing it is a beautiful shirtless hunk like the guy in this video. Hair, body, smile, eyes, personality, charm, and a little goofiness. What more can anyone ask for? Let's get in that car.



Checking the internet for any public information related to this, one can find that the guy in the video is Jacob Dowker and the boyfriend to whom he is signing is Anthony Potter. They are both from upstate New York, in the Watertown area, but they now live (presumably together) north of Buffalo. Anthony's YouTube profile states he is 22 years old, while Jacob is a freshman in college.

The video supposedly was made by Jacob as a personal message of affection for Anthony, but with it being posted on YouTube, it caught a some people's attention. It's known that it was publicized by a Brazilian website and then subsequently by Perez Hilton and Towleroad. With those mentions, the video got over a half million views.

Neither Anthony or Jacob is deaf. Anthony has an interest in languages, including ASL. When they first met, Anthony showed Jacob a little of how to sign. Concerning the signing in the video, Anthony explained that Jacob learned most of the signs he wanted to use from a book, over a week's time. Comments from viewers who know ASL have remarked that some of the signs are wrong, and actually end up saying something quite different from what was intended. Anthony's view is that people should keep in mind that it is the thought that counts, not the perfection of the execution.

In an article about the video in TÊTU, a French publication, Jacob said that some of their friends and relatives were not completely enthusiastic about it. However, the majority of them were proud to be associated with him, seeing how successful the clip had become. Anthony's take on the video is that it provides opportunities for many people to see what "gay love" really means. Also, "On est tous les deux très contents d'avoir donné aux gens une raison de sourire." [We are both very happy to have given people a reason to smile.]

Normally I hate all couples out of pure, unadulterated jealousy, but seeing photos of these two together, I make an exception with Anthony and Jacob. Très mignon.

The song playing in the video is "Computer Sex" by Aaron & The Gays, which is available for download/purchase from Amazon.