The Fotten Secret Language of Gay Men - Atlas Obscura

Contents:

• A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY SIGNALG, OM HANKY S TO THAT 'WHAT GAY GUYS ARE ACTUALLY LIKE' VIO
• THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN
• THIS SECRET LANGUAGE ALLOWED GAY MEN TO COMMUNITE WHEN HOMOSEXUALY WAS ILLEGAL | © ROBERT V. RUGGIERO / UNSPLASH PARRISH TURNER US BOOKS EDOR 10 MAY 2022 COPY LK FACEBOOK EMAIL TWTER PTERT IF YOU WERE A GAY MAN LIVG ENGLAND THE MID-20TH CENTURY, YOU MIGHT GREET YOUR IENDS WH ‘HOW BONA TO VARDA YOUR DOLLY OLD EEK.’ THIS SECRET LANGUAGE, OR CRYPTOLECT, SERVED TO HELP THOSE THE GAY MUNY WEED OUT WHO WAS ‘ THE LIFE’ AND WHO WAS NOT. VIEW ALL TRIPS THE CULTURE OF PRI CELEBRAT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RTS. TAKE A SP TO FD YOUR PERFECT SMALL-GROUP TRIP STATN PASSPORTS READY? YOUR NEXT STATN IS... VIEW TRIP SP ECUADOR TURKEY JAPAN MOROC ICELAND SOUTH AI CROATIA INDIA THAILAND MEXI GREECE BALI SPA EGYPT POLARI – A TERM GIVEN TO AN ENGLISH DIALECT THAT B ELEMENTS OF ROMANY, LAT, RHYMG SLANG, CIRC BACKSLANG AND CRIMAL NT – ORIGATED AS FAR BACK AS THE 16TH CENTURY. BY THE 1800S, WAS THE LANGUAGE OF OUTSIRS AND THE DISENANCHISED ENGLAND, AND WAS MOSTLY SPOKEN LONDON’S SOHO NEIGHBOURHOOD. A GAY LIBERATN FRONT MEMBER TAK PART A MONSTRATN 1972 | © CLIVE DIX / SHUTTERSTOCK ITS D AND SECRETIVE NATURE LENDS SELF TO THE LABEL ‘CRYPTOLECT’, OR WHAT THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY LLS “A SECRETIVE LANGUAGE ED TO NFE AND EXCLU OTHERS AND AFFIRM THE CHARACTER AND SOLIDARY OF A MARGALISED SUBCULTURE”. CARIBBEAN COLOMBIA DISVER COLOMBIA’S CARIBBEAN AST, OM CARTAGENA TO PALOMO VIA JUNGL, RIVERS AND ISLANDS. VIEW TRIP “YOU’D BE STANDG THERE AT THE BAR, TALKG TO A GAY IEND, [AND] YOU’D NOTICE THE PERSON NEXT TO HIM MIGHT BE LISTENG. [IF YOU] DIDN’T KNOW WHO THEY WERE, YOU’D JT SLIP TO POLARI,” SAYS ACTOR, DRAG QUEEN AND ACTIVIST BETTE BOURNE A 2014 DISCSN WH THOR STUART FEATHER. BOURNE LEARNED POLARI AS A YOUNG MAN THE 1960S. TO THE SUAL ENGLISH-SPEAKG OBSERVER, WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO INTIFY THAT POLARI SPEAKERS WERE G ENGLISH. SOME MAY HAVE REGNISED THE DIALECT AS PART OF THE EFFEMATE GAY MALE STEREOTYPE, BUT THE ACTUAL MEANGS OF THE WORDS WERE CIPHERABLE TO THE UNIATED. MANY POLARI PHRAS MUNITE PRIVATE MATTERS THAT ONE WOULD RATHER THE TAXI DRIVER NOT PICK UP ON. ‘KERTERVER RTZO SO NANTI ARVA’, FOR STANCE, WOULD DITE THAT THE SPEAKER NNOT HAVE SEX BEE HE HAS AN STI. OR ONE MIGHT SAY ‘PUTTG ON THE DISH’ TO DITE THAT HE HAD PREPARED FOR ANAL SEX. BEE A CULTURE TRIPPER! SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO SAVE UP TO 40% ON OUR UNIQUE TRIPS. SIGN UP SEE PRIVACY POLICY. “IT WAS MUCH EASIER BEE THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT YOU TALKG ABOUT. YOU’D JT SAY ‘BONA DISH’ [GREAT BUTT] AND ALL THAT,” SAYS BOURNE. “AND PECIALLY IF WAS SEXUAL, YOU DIDN’T WANT THEM TO KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TALKG ABOUT. YOU JT SLIPPED TO WHOUT THKG.” IN THE 1960S, THE BBC RAD SHOW ROUND THE HORNE GAVE MASTREAM BRA A TASTE OF POLARI. CHARACTERS ED PHRAS DURG THE BROADST TO IMPLY THEIR HOMOSEXUALY, AND THE SHOW WAS ABLE TO PICT HAPPY GAY MEN LGHG ALONGSI THE DIENCE, STEAD OF BEG THE BUTT OF THE JOKE. IN ADDN, POLARI SPEAKERS WERE ABLE TO UNRSTAND THE DOUBLE AND TRIPLE NUENDOS THAT WOULD NOT HAVE MA THROUGH CENSORS IF THE JOK HAD BEEN WRTEN PLA ENGLISH. WHILE ROUND THE HORNE DID LEAD TO A SHORT POPULARISATN OF THE LANGUAGE, ULTIMATELY HURT S EXCLIVY. THIS, BED WH THE CRIMALISATN OF HOMOSEXUAL ACTS 1967, LED TO A CLE AGE. KENH WILLIAMS’S ‘ROUND THE HORNE’ GAVE MASTREAM BRA A TASTE OF POLARI | © GHW PRODS / KOBAL / SHUTTERSTOCK “THE YOUNGER GAY MEN WERE KD OF G OUT THE ’70S AND THEY HAD DIFFERENT VALU,” SAYS LGUISTIC REARCHER PL BAKER THE 2018 DOCUMENTARY POLARI – A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN. “THEY [DIDN’T] WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WH SECRECY AND HIDG. INSTEAD, THERE ARE THE NCEPTS LIKE GAY PRI AND GAY LIBERATN AND G OUT. AND POLARI IS SEEN AS TO THE TRIMENT OF THOSE THGS.” IN MORE RECENT S, EFFORTS TO PRERVE THE LANGUAGE HAVE SEEN MIXED SUCCS. ARTISTS HAVE CREATED WORKS THAT CELEBRATE POLARI, BUT ORR TO KEEP A LANGUAGE TLY ALIVE, REQUIR ERS. WH THE GROWTH ACCEPTANCE OF LGBTQ INTI, THE NEED FOR SECRECY, AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE E OF POLARI, HAS SHIFTED. POLARI IS NO LONGER SPOKEN DAY TO DAY, BUT DO EXIST ART AND CULTURAL ARTEFACTS. IN 1990, THE CHARY, PROTT AND STREET PERFORMANCE ANISATN THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE FOUND A LONDON CHAPTER AND QUICKLY ADOPTED POLARI AS THE LANGUAGE OF THEIR OFFICIAL CEREMONI, REPLACG LAT. THE SISTERS E DRAG AND RELIG INOGRAPHY THEIR PERFORMANC, SOME OF WHICH VOLVE PARODI OF THE CATHOLIC MASS THEIR IATN RUALS. “IT IS MORE THAN A MYSTIL LANGUAGE, HALF FOTTEN AND ONLY HALF UNRSTOOD,” SCRIBE ANNA LIVIA AND KIRA HALL QUEERLY PHRASED (1997), A BOOK EXPLORG THE WAYS THE LGBTQ MUNY RELAT TO LANGUAGE. “IT IS ALSO THE LANGUAGE OF IRONY AND PARODY, AS ARE THE SISTERS’ CELEBRATNS THEMSELV.” THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE FOUND A LONDON CHAPTER 1990 AND QUICKLY ADOPTED POLARI | © PL BROWN / SHUTTERSTOCK IN 2017, POLARI GARNERED ATTENTN AGA WHEN A TRAEE PRIT ATTEMPTED TO E THE CRYPTOLECT TO “QUEER THE LURGY OF EVENG PRAYER”. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ORDAND’S PLAN WAS TO MONSTRATE THAT THE CHRISTIAN SERVICE ULD BE LIVERED A WAY THAT HONOURED THE CULTURAL SPECIFICY OF THE LGBTQ MUNY DURG LGBT HISTORY MONTH. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PLAN BACKFIRED. MANY CHRISTIANS, GAY AND STRAIGHT ALIKE, WERE MA UNFORTABLE BY THE CHANG THAT TURNED “GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON, AND TO THE HOLY SPIR” TO “FABENS BE TO THE AUNTIE, AND TO THE HOMIE CHAVVIE, AND TO THE FANTABULOSA FAIRY”. BEE THIS CHANGE TO THE LURGY WAS NOT APPROVED BY THE CHURCH, A REPRENTATIVE LATER APOLOGISED FOR ANY OFFENCE ED. THE LEGACY OF POLARI HAS EVEN PERATED MASTREAM ENGLISH. IN LONDON, PL BURSTON MANAG THE POLARI LERARY SALON, A SHOWSE FOUND 2007 FOR LGBTQ WRERS AND PERFORMERS. WHILE THE SALON TAK S NAME OM POLARI, PERFORMERS DON’T ACTUALLY SPEAK . BURSTON NOT THE FLUENCE POLARI HAS. “I DON’T THK MOST NTEMPORARY LGBTQ NOVELISTS ARE NSCLY DRAWG ON POLARI AS A LANGUAGE,” HE TELLS CULTURE TRIP. “IT TENDS TO APPEAR MORE HISTORIL FICTN, E.G. THE WORK OF JAKE ARNOTT OR NEIL BARTLETT. BUT AS WH MANY DIALECTS, THERE IS A LEGACY – ELEMENTS OF THE LANGUAGE THAT HAVE ENTERED MON CURRENCY. WORDS LIKE ‘NAFF’ OR ‘ZHOOSH’, FOR EXAMPLE. PEOPLE E THEM WHOUT NECSARILY KNOWG THAT THEY WERE ONCE PART OF THIS UNRGROUND D LANGUAGE.” POLARI’S FLUENCE N STILL BE SEEN WORDS SUCH AS ‘DRAG’, ‘KIKI’ AND ‘MP’. IN POLARI, ‘MP’ MEANS ‘EXCSIVE OR SHOWY OR AFFECTG MANNERISMS OF THE OPPOSE SEX’, AND TODAY THE TERM IS ED TO REFER TO MANY FORMS OF THEATRICS THAT LEAN TO THE EXTREME, SUCH AS DRAG PERFORMANC. SOME DRAG QUEENS E POLARI TERMS THEIR PERFORMANC | © NILS JENSEN / SHUTTERSTOCK AS MUNI NTUE TO FORM AROUND LGBTQ INTI, POLARI EXEMPLIFI AN IMPORTANT MOMENT GAY HISTORY. IT WAS A LANGUAGE THAT BROUGHT GAY MEN TOGETHER AND NNECTED THEM TO A CULTURAL LEGACY, ONE THAT N STILL BE SEEN SLANG TODAY – EVEN IF MANY SPEAKERS DON’T REALISE .WANT TO LEARN POLARI? CHECK OUT THE POLARI APP OR FANTABULOSA: A DICTNARY OF POLARI AND GAY SLANG. PRI 2019 MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RTS NEW YORK CY AND THE BEGNGS OF THE TERNATNAL PRI MOVEMENT. TO CELEBRATE, CULTURE TRIP SPOTLIGHTS LGBTQ PNEERS CHANGG THE LANDSPE OF LOVE AROUND THE WORLD. WELE TO THE CULTURE OF PRI. VOLNIC ICELAND EPIC TRIP MEET OUR LOL INSIR HANNA HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A GUIDE? 2 YEARS. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB? IT'S THE PERSONAL NTACT, THE PERSONAL EXPERIENC. I LOVE MEETG PEOPLE OM ALL OVER THE WORLD... I REALLY LIKE GETTG TO KNOW EVERYONE AND FEELG LIKE I'M TRAVELG WH A GROUP OF IENDS. WHAT DESTINATION IS ON YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET-LIST? I HAVE SO MANY PLAC ON MY LIST, BUT I WOULD REALLY LOBE TO GO TO AI. I NSIR MYSELF AN “ADVENTURE GIRL” AND AI FEELS LIKE THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE! EVERY CULTURE TRIP SMALL-GROUP ADVENTURE IS LED BY A LOL INSIR JT LIKE HANNA. SEE OUR CULTURE TRIPS KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?
• A SECRET GAY HISTORY OF UK PNAGE: ‘THE SKILL-SET OF HOMOSEXUALS AND SPI OVERLAPPED’

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GAY SIGNALG, OM HANKY S TO THAT 'WHAT GAY GUYS ARE ACTUALLY LIKE' VIO

From then on, wearg a green rnatn your lapel was a d way to tell other queer men that you were gay. And today is ed as the logo for the Internatnal Dubl Gay Theatre Ftival. Another phrase that was wily ed to scribe someone as gay was a ‘iend of Dorothy’.

Although the meang of the phrase may now be mon knowledge, for a long time was only the muny who was -the-know, so beme a safe way to tell someone else you were gay whout riskg outg yourself to someone who may not be acceptg of . In the 1980s, a man named Melv Dahl was discharged om the navy for beg homosexual, and after he ma a ment that there were lots of other gay men his base, the Navy sought to fd and purge all of the men om their ranks. ) disvered that homosexuals sometim referred to themselv as "iends of Dorothy.

S., however, did not know the phrase's history and so believed that a woman named Dorothy was the hub of an enormo rg of ary homosexuals the Chigo area. Prepared to hunt Dorothy down and nvce her to give them the nam of homosexuals.

THE FOTTEN SECRET LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN

However, the late 1980s still saw a great number of gay people expelled om the ary. are there any secret s to know if someone is gay [Discsn]. i'm bi and am aware of the e of sweater weather to know if someone is bi is there any other secret s to know if someone is gay?

Maybe you've seen the recent vio that purports to show "what actually happens when gay guys see other gay guys and straight people aren't around. " While I n't nfirm or ny the accuracy of the clip's subject matter (still wag on clearance om the Gay Agenda), I n say that s edy is rooted a rich history of signalg, flaggg, and other forms of non-verbal munitn between gay Pulls a CharlottvilleThe vio fds actors/edians Brian Jordan Alvarez, Stephen Guaro, and Mch Silpa nng to one another their apartment buildg's regnizg one another's gayns, and realizg they're a space utterly void of heterosexualy, the three men lnch to some light nway……'80s face-molg 101……talog at-hangg……and low-key Bernatte-ery……wh a llective "Bnch!

" at the unrlyg tensn of the scene stems om the ia that the men are only ee—or perhaps safe—to unleash their purt gay selv the pany of others like them. )The need to navigate one's inty through different social suatns, mixed wh the sire for regnn, has led gay men (and women, obvly, but this article is foced on the male si of this phenomenon) to velop subtle, often wordls methods of munitn wh others the of the systems have been historilly ed to broadst sexual sir, like the hanky , which saw s peak age the 1970s and '80s. In Gay New York, Gee Chncey c red neckti as one of the major "fairy" signifiers of the 1890s, and the 1930s there was "practilly a homosexual monopoly" on dark brown and gray sue sho the 1930s.

THIS SECRET LANGUAGE ALLOWED GAY MEN TO COMMUNITE WHEN HOMOSEXUALY WAS ILLEGAL | © ROBERT V. RUGGIERO / UNSPLASH PARRISH TURNER US BOOKS EDOR 10 MAY 2022 COPY LK FACEBOOK EMAIL TWTER PTERT IF YOU WERE A GAY MAN LIVG ENGLAND THE MID-20TH CENTURY, YOU MIGHT GREET YOUR IENDS WH ‘HOW BONA TO VARDA YOUR DOLLY OLD EEK.’ THIS SECRET LANGUAGE, OR CRYPTOLECT, SERVED TO HELP THOSE THE GAY MUNY WEED OUT WHO WAS ‘ THE LIFE’ AND WHO WAS NOT. VIEW ALL TRIPS THE CULTURE OF PRI CELEBRAT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RTS. TAKE A SP TO FD YOUR PERFECT SMALL-GROUP TRIP STATN PASSPORTS READY? YOUR NEXT STATN IS... VIEW TRIP SP ECUADOR TURKEY JAPAN MOROC ICELAND SOUTH AI CROATIA INDIA THAILAND MEXI GREECE BALI SPA EGYPT POLARI – A TERM GIVEN TO AN ENGLISH DIALECT THAT B ELEMENTS OF ROMANY, LAT, RHYMG SLANG, CIRC BACKSLANG AND CRIMAL NT – ORIGATED AS FAR BACK AS THE 16TH CENTURY. BY THE 1800S, WAS THE LANGUAGE OF OUTSIRS AND THE DISENANCHISED ENGLAND, AND WAS MOSTLY SPOKEN LONDON’S SOHO NEIGHBOURHOOD. A GAY LIBERATN FRONT MEMBER TAK PART A MONSTRATN 1972 | © CLIVE DIX / SHUTTERSTOCK ITS D AND SECRETIVE NATURE LENDS SELF TO THE LABEL ‘CRYPTOLECT’, OR WHAT THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTNARY LLS “A SECRETIVE LANGUAGE ED TO NFE AND EXCLU OTHERS AND AFFIRM THE CHARACTER AND SOLIDARY OF A MARGALISED SUBCULTURE”. CARIBBEAN COLOMBIA DISVER COLOMBIA’S CARIBBEAN AST, OM CARTAGENA TO PALOMO VIA JUNGL, RIVERS AND ISLANDS. VIEW TRIP “YOU’D BE STANDG THERE AT THE BAR, TALKG TO A GAY IEND, [AND] YOU’D NOTICE THE PERSON NEXT TO HIM MIGHT BE LISTENG. [IF YOU] DIDN’T KNOW WHO THEY WERE, YOU’D JT SLIP TO POLARI,” SAYS ACTOR, DRAG QUEEN AND ACTIVIST BETTE BOURNE A 2014 DISCSN WH THOR STUART FEATHER. BOURNE LEARNED POLARI AS A YOUNG MAN THE 1960S. TO THE SUAL ENGLISH-SPEAKG OBSERVER, WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO INTIFY THAT POLARI SPEAKERS WERE G ENGLISH. SOME MAY HAVE REGNISED THE DIALECT AS PART OF THE EFFEMATE GAY MALE STEREOTYPE, BUT THE ACTUAL MEANGS OF THE WORDS WERE CIPHERABLE TO THE UNIATED. MANY POLARI PHRAS MUNITE PRIVATE MATTERS THAT ONE WOULD RATHER THE TAXI DRIVER NOT PICK UP ON. ‘KERTERVER RTZO SO NANTI ARVA’, FOR STANCE, WOULD DITE THAT THE SPEAKER NNOT HAVE SEX BEE HE HAS AN STI. OR ONE MIGHT SAY ‘PUTTG ON THE DISH’ TO DITE THAT HE HAD PREPARED FOR ANAL SEX. BEE A CULTURE TRIPPER! SIGN UP TO OUR NEWSLETTER TO SAVE UP TO 40% ON OUR UNIQUE TRIPS. SIGN UP SEE PRIVACY POLICY. “IT WAS MUCH EASIER BEE THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT YOU TALKG ABOUT. YOU’D JT SAY ‘BONA DISH’ [GREAT BUTT] AND ALL THAT,” SAYS BOURNE. “AND PECIALLY IF WAS SEXUAL, YOU DIDN’T WANT THEM TO KNOW WHAT YOU WERE TALKG ABOUT. YOU JT SLIPPED TO WHOUT THKG.” IN THE 1960S, THE BBC RAD SHOW ROUND THE HORNE GAVE MASTREAM BRA A TASTE OF POLARI. CHARACTERS ED PHRAS DURG THE BROADST TO IMPLY THEIR HOMOSEXUALY, AND THE SHOW WAS ABLE TO PICT HAPPY GAY MEN LGHG ALONGSI THE DIENCE, STEAD OF BEG THE BUTT OF THE JOKE. IN ADDN, POLARI SPEAKERS WERE ABLE TO UNRSTAND THE DOUBLE AND TRIPLE NUENDOS THAT WOULD NOT HAVE MA THROUGH CENSORS IF THE JOK HAD BEEN WRTEN PLA ENGLISH. WHILE ROUND THE HORNE DID LEAD TO A SHORT POPULARISATN OF THE LANGUAGE, ULTIMATELY HURT S EXCLIVY. THIS, BED WH THE CRIMALISATN OF HOMOSEXUAL ACTS 1967, LED TO A CLE AGE. KENH WILLIAMS’S ‘ROUND THE HORNE’ GAVE MASTREAM BRA A TASTE OF POLARI | © GHW PRODS / KOBAL / SHUTTERSTOCK “THE YOUNGER GAY MEN WERE KD OF G OUT THE ’70S AND THEY HAD DIFFERENT VALU,” SAYS LGUISTIC REARCHER PL BAKER THE 2018 DOCUMENTARY POLARI – A SHORT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE LOST LANGUAGE OF GAY MEN. “THEY [DIDN’T] WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WH SECRECY AND HIDG. INSTEAD, THERE ARE THE NCEPTS LIKE GAY PRI AND GAY LIBERATN AND G OUT. AND POLARI IS SEEN AS TO THE TRIMENT OF THOSE THGS.” IN MORE RECENT S, EFFORTS TO PRERVE THE LANGUAGE HAVE SEEN MIXED SUCCS. ARTISTS HAVE CREATED WORKS THAT CELEBRATE POLARI, BUT ORR TO KEEP A LANGUAGE TLY ALIVE, REQUIR ERS. WH THE GROWTH ACCEPTANCE OF LGBTQ INTI, THE NEED FOR SECRECY, AND SUBSEQUENTLY THE E OF POLARI, HAS SHIFTED. POLARI IS NO LONGER SPOKEN DAY TO DAY, BUT DO EXIST ART AND CULTURAL ARTEFACTS. IN 1990, THE CHARY, PROTT AND STREET PERFORMANCE ANISATN THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE FOUND A LONDON CHAPTER AND QUICKLY ADOPTED POLARI AS THE LANGUAGE OF THEIR OFFICIAL CEREMONI, REPLACG LAT. THE SISTERS E DRAG AND RELIG INOGRAPHY THEIR PERFORMANC, SOME OF WHICH VOLVE PARODI OF THE CATHOLIC MASS THEIR IATN RUALS. “IT IS MORE THAN A MYSTIL LANGUAGE, HALF FOTTEN AND ONLY HALF UNRSTOOD,” SCRIBE ANNA LIVIA AND KIRA HALL QUEERLY PHRASED (1997), A BOOK EXPLORG THE WAYS THE LGBTQ MUNY RELAT TO LANGUAGE. “IT IS ALSO THE LANGUAGE OF IRONY AND PARODY, AS ARE THE SISTERS’ CELEBRATNS THEMSELV.” THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE FOUND A LONDON CHAPTER 1990 AND QUICKLY ADOPTED POLARI | © PL BROWN / SHUTTERSTOCK IN 2017, POLARI GARNERED ATTENTN AGA WHEN A TRAEE PRIT ATTEMPTED TO E THE CRYPTOLECT TO “QUEER THE LURGY OF EVENG PRAYER”. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ORDAND’S PLAN WAS TO MONSTRATE THAT THE CHRISTIAN SERVICE ULD BE LIVERED A WAY THAT HONOURED THE CULTURAL SPECIFICY OF THE LGBTQ MUNY DURG LGBT HISTORY MONTH. UNFORTUNATELY, THE PLAN BACKFIRED. MANY CHRISTIANS, GAY AND STRAIGHT ALIKE, WERE MA UNFORTABLE BY THE CHANG THAT TURNED “GLORY BE TO THE FATHER, AND TO THE SON, AND TO THE HOLY SPIR” TO “FABENS BE TO THE AUNTIE, AND TO THE HOMIE CHAVVIE, AND TO THE FANTABULOSA FAIRY”. BEE THIS CHANGE TO THE LURGY WAS NOT APPROVED BY THE CHURCH, A REPRENTATIVE LATER APOLOGISED FOR ANY OFFENCE ED. THE LEGACY OF POLARI HAS EVEN PERATED MASTREAM ENGLISH. IN LONDON, PL BURSTON MANAG THE POLARI LERARY SALON, A SHOWSE FOUND 2007 FOR LGBTQ WRERS AND PERFORMERS. WHILE THE SALON TAK S NAME OM POLARI, PERFORMERS DON’T ACTUALLY SPEAK . BURSTON NOT THE FLUENCE POLARI HAS. “I DON’T THK MOST NTEMPORARY LGBTQ NOVELISTS ARE NSCLY DRAWG ON POLARI AS A LANGUAGE,” HE TELLS CULTURE TRIP. “IT TENDS TO APPEAR MORE HISTORIL FICTN, E.G. THE WORK OF JAKE ARNOTT OR NEIL BARTLETT. BUT AS WH MANY DIALECTS, THERE IS A LEGACY – ELEMENTS OF THE LANGUAGE THAT HAVE ENTERED MON CURRENCY. WORDS LIKE ‘NAFF’ OR ‘ZHOOSH’, FOR EXAMPLE. PEOPLE E THEM WHOUT NECSARILY KNOWG THAT THEY WERE ONCE PART OF THIS UNRGROUND D LANGUAGE.” POLARI’S FLUENCE N STILL BE SEEN WORDS SUCH AS ‘DRAG’, ‘KIKI’ AND ‘MP’. IN POLARI, ‘MP’ MEANS ‘EXCSIVE OR SHOWY OR AFFECTG MANNERISMS OF THE OPPOSE SEX’, AND TODAY THE TERM IS ED TO REFER TO MANY FORMS OF THEATRICS THAT LEAN TO THE EXTREME, SUCH AS DRAG PERFORMANC. SOME DRAG QUEENS E POLARI TERMS THEIR PERFORMANC | © NILS JENSEN / SHUTTERSTOCK AS MUNI NTUE TO FORM AROUND LGBTQ INTI, POLARI EXEMPLIFI AN IMPORTANT MOMENT GAY HISTORY. IT WAS A LANGUAGE THAT BROUGHT GAY MEN TOGETHER AND NNECTED THEM TO A CULTURAL LEGACY, ONE THAT N STILL BE SEEN SLANG TODAY – EVEN IF MANY SPEAKERS DON’T REALISE .WANT TO LEARN POLARI? CHECK OUT THE POLARI APP OR FANTABULOSA: A DICTNARY OF POLARI AND GAY SLANG. PRI 2019 MARKS THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE STONEWALL RTS NEW YORK CY AND THE BEGNGS OF THE TERNATNAL PRI MOVEMENT. TO CELEBRATE, CULTURE TRIP SPOTLIGHTS LGBTQ PNEERS CHANGG THE LANDSPE OF LOVE AROUND THE WORLD. WELE TO THE CULTURE OF PRI. VOLNIC ICELAND EPIC TRIP MEET OUR LOL INSIR HANNA HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A GUIDE? 2 YEARS. WHAT DO YOU LOVE ABOUT YOUR JOB? IT'S THE PERSONAL NTACT, THE PERSONAL EXPERIENC. I LOVE MEETG PEOPLE OM ALL OVER THE WORLD... I REALLY LIKE GETTG TO KNOW EVERYONE AND FEELG LIKE I'M TRAVELG WH A GROUP OF IENDS. WHAT DESTINATION IS ON YOUR TRAVEL BUCKET-LIST? I HAVE SO MANY PLAC ON MY LIST, BUT I WOULD REALLY LOBE TO GO TO AI. I NSIR MYSELF AN “ADVENTURE GIRL” AND AI FEELS LIKE THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE! EVERY CULTURE TRIP SMALL-GROUP ADVENTURE IS LED BY A LOL INSIR JT LIKE HANNA. SEE OUR CULTURE TRIPS KEEN TO EXPLORE THE WORLD?

Physil mannerisms,, why do gay men ntue to create and cultivate the systems of mostly non-verbal munitn wh each other? I thk a lot of has to do wh the fact that gayns don't e wh hered physil tras or other visible intifiers on the body; we're forced to create our own. 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.

A SECRET GAY HISTORY OF UK PNAGE: ‘THE SKILL-SET OF HOMOSEXUALS AND SPI OVERLAPPED’

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.

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. Many who were lobbyg for sexual equaly, says Dolan, “felt was about gay people prentg themselv as jt ordary folks. 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.

“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.