Gay and Lbian Language on JSTOR

Contents:

• THE 55 PHRAS GAY MEN MOST OFTEN GO THROUGH...
• GAY QUOT
• GAY SLANG 101
• GAY SLANG: A SECRET LANGUAGE THAT BEGAN AS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE
• THAT'S GAY
• THE FETS AND JABS OF POLARI, BRA’S GAY SLANG

THE 55 PHRAS GAY MEN MOST OFTEN GO THROUGH...

51 Don't ask, don't tell (Erroneoly thought to be a policy ncerng disclosure of homosexualy the US ary, actually what gay men mutter when terrogated about their age)50 You have five hours to stop lickg my face49 From Monday to Friday my body is a temple. () Wh a transgenr woman  Congrs and the immense populary of shows like Queer Eye and RuPl's Drag Race, gay culture is currently at the foreont of mastream Filipo nscns a way has never been before.

GAY QUOT

Provg jt how funny the evolutn of language n be, achoo is the newt eratn of the classic beki term "pamta, " which refers to gay men who seem like they're straight. 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.

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.

GAY SLANG 101

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”. Another siar term, “light the loafers”, is a somewhat rogatory phrase that is ed to scribe someone who acts or appears to be gay. The drag fai beme a refuge for gay, trans, and genr non-nformg youth who were turned away by their own fai or experienced homelsns due to poverty.

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

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.

THAT'S GAY

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.

THE FETS AND JABS OF POLARI, BRA’S GAY SLANG

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. 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.