The Fotten Secret Language of Gay Men - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• QUEER LGO 101: DEDG GAY SLANG FOR THE STRAIGHT CROWDEXPAND YOUR VOBULARY AND UNRSTANDG WH A SASSY, RMATIVE GUI TO LGBTQ+ TERMOLOGY.NATHAN CHEN·FOLLOW4 M READ·APR 17--SHAREPHOTO BY NICK FEWGS ON UNSPLASHHEY THERE, STRAIGHT IENDS! SO, YOU’VE FOUND YOURSELF THE FABULO WORLD OF QUEER LANGUAGE, AND NOW YOU’RE LOST? FEAR NOT! IT’S TIME TO S DOWN, GRAB A CUP OF TEA, AND LET’S SPILL ALL. WE’RE ABOUT TO DIVE TO THE WORLD OF GAY SLANGS, WH A HEFTY DOSE OF HUMOR, EXAMPL, AND EVEN SOME STRAIGHT-WORLD REFERENC FOR YOUR FORT. AND OF URSE, WE’RE KEEPG SASSY, HONEY!YAAAS!
• TRA (GAY SLANG)
• GAY SLANG: A SECRET LANGUAGE THAT BEGAN AS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
• TRA (GAY SLANG)  
• THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN
• POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

QUEER LGO 101: DEDG GAY SLANG FOR THE STRAIGHT CROWDEXPAND YOUR VOBULARY AND UNRSTANDG WH A SASSY, RMATIVE GUI TO LGBTQ+ TERMOLOGY.NATHAN CHEN·FOLLOW4 M READ·APR 17--SHAREPHOTO BY NICK FEWGS ON UNSPLASHHEY THERE, STRAIGHT IENDS! SO, YOU’VE FOUND YOURSELF THE FABULO WORLD OF QUEER LANGUAGE, AND NOW YOU’RE LOST? FEAR NOT! IT’S TIME TO S DOWN, GRAB A CUP OF TEA, AND LET’S SPILL ALL. WE’RE ABOUT TO DIVE TO THE WORLD OF GAY SLANGS, WH A HEFTY DOSE OF HUMOR, EXAMPL, AND EVEN SOME STRAIGHT-WORLD REFERENC FOR YOUR FORT. AND OF URSE, WE’RE KEEPG SASSY, HONEY!YAAAS!

The term "tra" origated om the notn that the men were only gay for pay-- th they would "tra" sex for money. In recent years, the term has e to refer to any gay men of lor who drs hip-hop spired clothg and play to the masc fetish. A theoretilly straight man who lik to "s back and get serviced" by gay/bi men, wh ltle or no sexual reciprotn.

TRA (GAY SLANG)

We’re about to dive to the world of gay slangs, wh a hefty dose of humor, exampl, and even some straight-world referenc for your fort.

Tra (also known as Chow) is a gay slang term origatg om Polari and refers to the (ually) sual partner of a gay man or to the genre of such pairgs. Historilly the motivatns may at tim clu a sire for emotnal fulfillment and admiratn, but the term often refers to a straight man who partners wh a gay man for enomic benef, eher through a direct sh payment or through other, more subtle means (gifts, tun payments, etc.

Tra origally referred to sual sex partners, regardls of sexualy as many gay and bisexual men were closeted, but evolved to imply the gay partner is paratively wealthy and the partner who is tra is enomilly prived. Often the attractn for the gay male partner is fdg a dangero, even thuggish, partner who may turn vlent. 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.

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

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.

TRA (GAY SLANG)  

And many feel that this word plac undue emphasis on sexual activy, or that sounds overly clil.” 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.”.

Gay, on the other hand, n be ed to scribe a person of any genr who experienc same-sex attractn, although is most often ed to scribe a man who is attracted to men. On June 28, 1969, the New York Cy police raid the Stonewall Inn, a bar equented by gay and genr-nonnformg people (at a time when terms like LGBTQ didn’t yet exist).

Partially rponse to Stonewall, 1970, queer activists New York Cy anized a march to Central Park wh the theme “Gay Pri.” A more prehensive history of the Stonewall Rt or the Stonewall Uprisg n be found our Pri Month explaer. Queer lerally means “strange or odd om a nventnal viewpot,” and by at least by the late 1800s, queer was ployed as a rogatory term for an effemate or gay man. Queer was seen as a way to refer to gays and lbians whout beg genr-sentialist or g divisns wh the muny.

THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

Many untri around the world have their own versn of queer slang, om Brish gay slang rived om the rhymg slang Polari to beki – the Philipp’ queer language that borrows om a slew of sourc, cludg pop culture, Japane, Spanish, and the untry’s lol languag. While the gay slang terms and languag serve jt as much attentn, one article wouldn’t be enough to ver everythg. To hi their inti pla sight of other queer people, gay and bisexual men would refer to each other wh nam.

POLARI: THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

But the Onle Slang Dictnary c 1960s gay male culture as the earlit known source, particularly rtoonist Joe Johnson’s characters “Miss Thg” and “Big Dick”, which appeared early issu of The Advote. Homosexualy remaed illegal across the Uned Stat the mid-twentieth century – that is, until Illois beme the first state to crimalize same-sex relatns 1962.

In the 60s and 70s, gay men even had a “hanky ” – a system that volved wearg bandanas wh lors that signified whether you were a top, bottom, to BDSM, etc. Judy Garland, who played Dorothy the film, was also a queer in who patronized gay bars and often surround herself wh queer iends. In the 60s, Lesch was the print of a gay rights anizatn lled the Mattache Society and me up wh the “Sip-In” – a monstratn held at New York Cy bars that banned service to out gay people.

Lesch scribed nti as “agg or middle-aged homosexuals, offtim effemate character” and people of “settled meanor who utns agast temperate acts”.