At a memorial event in Glendale, Arizona, emotions ran high as friends, family, and supporters gathered to honor the life of Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. His wife, Erika Kirk, stepped to the microphone and made a simple yet powerful gesture that captured the attention of the audience. She raised her hand and, with quiet strength, signed “I love you” in American Sign Language — a message of devotion and remembrance for her late husband. For those who understood its meaning, the moment was both touching and unforgettable.
The sign, created by extending the thumb, index finger, and pinky while pressing the other two fingers down, is one of the most recognizable expressions of love in ASL. Many attendees immediately recognized Erika’s message and were moved by the intimate tribute. It was a personal way of saying what words often fail to capture — love that endures beyond loss.
However, as clips of the moment spread online, confusion followed. Some social media users misinterpreted the gesture, mistakenly linking it to unrelated symbols. Quickly, supporters and members of the deaf community stepped in to clarify the misunderstanding. They explained that Erika’s hand sign was a universally known expression of love and connection, not something to be twisted or misread.
The confusion likely arose because the ASL gesture resembles a hand sign often seen at concerts, but the extended thumb in Erika’s movement makes it distinct. Her tribute was nothing more than a wife’s heartfelt message to her husband, offered in front of those who loved him too. While online debates came and went, those present at the memorial understood it for what it truly was — a simple but powerful reminder that love always speaks the loudest.