On the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offenc Act Bra, Fna Macdonald looks at a gay slang that beme a form of fiance.
Contents:
- POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE
- RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
- WHAT DO BBC STAND FOR GAY DATG
POLARI: THE LANGUAGE GAY MEN ED TO SURVIVE
* bbc in gay slang *
Polari was spoken to skirt the UK’s strict anti-homosexualy laws. ”That may seem like a strg of nonsense words om Dr Sss’s The Cat the Hat or Anthony Burgs’s A Clockwork Orange but ’s a real-life greetg gay men the UK would say to each other the 1950s and 60s.
RISHI SUNAK APOLOGIS TO LGBT VETERANS FOR PAST ARMED FORC GAY BAN
”Until 1967, homosexual sex was illegal England and Wal. To avoid imprisonment, gay men ed Polari, a language that the Oxford English Dictnary says is “ma up of Italianate phras, rhymg slang and nt terms.
The Queens' English: The LGBTQIA+ Dictnary of Lgo and Colloquial Phras is a prehensive gui to morn gay slang, queer theory terms, and the lloquialisms that fe and celebrate LGBTQIA+ culture.
WHAT DO BBC STAND FOR GAY DATG
The stand for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer (although the "Q" n also reprent Qutng), Intersex, and Asexual. “But, more importantly, this dictnary is a celebratn of the diverse language that is ed to scribe the spectm of gay and queer inty, ” says Chloe. For example, the 1950s and '60s, when homosexualy was illegal, was mon for gay men to e the she/her pronouns or women’s nam to inty their lovers – bee protected them.
About a century ago – when you were ostracised for beg black and for beg gay – the Harlem Renaissance took place. There were extravagant unrground drag balls, created by black and Latx gay and trans queer dividuals to supplement their self-worth, inty and muny. They created the phrase, “ the life”, to mean gay or queer – a ed to disguise ’s meang om the mastream.