Gay and Lbian Language on JSTOR

the language of gay

Gay language has achieved a higher gree of acceptance recent years the Philipp. Both gays and non-gays n be heard utterg gay exprsns. But the ma role of gayspeak for gay people the Philipp is to functn as an “armor” to shield themselv om the chasm and the social stigma ed by genr differenc. From a lguistic pot of view, this paper not only scrib the nature of this gay language and how exprsns are ed; also looks at how mixg (gayspeak + English language) is ma possible. This paper also exam how this -mixg creatively vlat the grammatil stcture of the e of the English language the Philipp.  

Contents:

THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

Heavily ed by Brish gays the 1920s bee of anti-homosexual laws, efforts are beg ma to prerve an entirely queer-based slang. * the language of gay *

Vada (“look at”), dolly eek (a pretty face), and chicken (a young guy) are all words om the lexin of Polari, a secret language ed by gay men Bra at a time when homosexualy was illegal. In the 1930s was spoken among the theater typ of the Wt End, om which crossed over to the cy’s gay pubs, gag s stat as the secret language of gay men.

In England, homosexualy was officially nsired a crime until 1967, when the Sexual Offenc Act legalized private “homosexual acts” between nsentg adults over 21.

) The Act me a after the ernment’s Wolfenn Report, which igned bate by remendg the partial crimalizatn of homosexual acts. Durg the terim years, when beg openly non-straight brought the risks of social isolatn and crimal prosecutn, Polari provid gay men wh a subtle way to fd one another for pannship and sex.

GAY SLANG: A SECRET LANGUAGE THAT BEGAN AS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE

The LGBTQ+ muny is known for havg unique and creative ways of self-exprsn. One secret language began as an act of fiance agast an anti-gay society. * the language of gay *

Among nfirmed gay men, however, there was nothg subtle about Polari nversatns. The Hidn History of Gay Life at Sea, Pl Baker and Jo Stanley wre that Polari played a role “allowg gay men to nstct a humoroly performative inty for themselv.

In the late ‘60s, as gay liberatn groups were fightg for regnn and equaly, Polari h mastream Brish pop-culture the form of Julian and Sandy, two flamboyant, not-officially-but-pretty-obvly gay characters on a BBC rad show lled Round the Horne. But the ‘60s, they were the extent of gay men’s media reprentatn Bra. Julian and Sandy prented a nundm: as lovable gay characters on a very popular show, they enared themselv to Brish dienc an era of homophobia.

But some gay liberatn groups me to rent the image that they—and Polari—perpetuated. By the early ‘70s, as LGBT groups fought for rights beyond those granted by the 1967 Sexual Offenc Act, the image of the mp gay man had bee the target of ire.

RSIAN GAY SLANG

Don Kulick, Gay and Lbian Language, Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 29 (2000), pp. 243-285 * the language of gay *

Many who were lobbyg for sexual equaly, says Dolan, “felt was about gay people prentg themselv as jt ordary folks. “Gay men unr 40 barely know of at all. When Ecclton and Fairbairn posted the film onle, they were surprised by the enthiastic rponse—and the level of fascatn wh Polari, this myster, cipherable “gay language.

GAY LANGUAGE: DEFYG THE STCTURAL LIMS OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE THE PHILIPP

“The kds of nts still exist where opprsn is still entrenched, ” says Ecclton, cg Swardspeak, a language based on English and Tagalog that is ed among gay men the Philipp. Given s associatns wh stereotypil reprentatns of gay men, Polari may not seem to have a place the 21st century. But the backlash agast mp has mellowed—’s not the way to be gay, but ’s one way among many.

Dolan brgs up the pot that gay men shouldn’t have to be “straight-actg” orr to be accepted: “Might not be more fun to embrace a b more mp and actually have fun wh ourselv and wh each other? Pri, formerly known as Gay Pri, is a regnn of LGBTQ inty, affirmatn of equal rights, and celebratn of visibily, digny, and diversy the LGBTQ muny. G: Gay.

GAY LANGUAGE(1,700 WORDS)

Why gay or lbian and not “homosexual”? While the word homosexual is still ocsnally ed some ntexts, you might have noticed that don’t make an appearance any versn of the LGBTQ acronym. As our age note on the term stat, “up until 1973, homosexualy was listed The Diagnostic and Statistil Manual of Mental Disorrs (DSM), psychiatry’s standard reference on the classifitn of mental illns.

People aware of this former tegorizatn feel that the term homosexual still rri a negative nnotatn.

” In fact, the term homosexual was liberately rejected by early gay rights activists bee, acrdg to The New York Tim, “they did not want to be intified as exclively sexual begs. For the and other reasons, the term homosexual is wily nsired disparagg and offensive. Instead, the terms gay and lbian are generally preferred.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* THE LANGUAGE OF GAY

Learn Polari, the Secret Language of the Gays .

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