LGBTQ slang: Exploring outdated & modern queer slang.

Queer slang has a long and colorful history, evolving as society and its attitude towards the community changes. Take a trip down history as we explore outdated and modern LGBTQ slang.

As times change, so does language. With new generations come new words, phrases, and slang. This is especially evident in the LGBTQ community, where terminology evolves to better represent and encompass the queer experience. In this post, we’ll explore some of the outdated and modern queer slang terms used by LGBTQ people.

Note that this short and incomplete list mostly covers American LGBTQ slang. Many countries around the world have their own version of queer slang, from British gay slang derived from the rhyming slang Polari to beki – the Philippines’ queer language that borrows from a slew of sources, including pop culture, Japanese, Spanish, and the country’s local languages. While these gay slang terms and languages deserve just as much attention, one article wouldn’t be enough to cover everything.


Queer Slang In The Victorian Era

Although slang is frequently linked with youth culture, marginalized groups have long used a variety of slang terms to converse and defend one another from their oppressors. According to linguists, that is also how homosexual slang originated.

Male homosexuality wasn't just frowned upon during the Victorian period; it was also against the law. Sodomy, also known as "buggery," was punishable by years in prison and chemical castration for males who were found guilty of it. Gay and bisexual men would use code names to communicate with one another in open sight of other queer people while concealing their identities. These code names frequently began with "Mary" or "Miss," as in "Miss Kitten" or "Mary Louise".

Even today, people still call another gay individual "Mary" in jest or as a slang term. A self-absorbed or arrogant person is referred to as "Miss Thing," a word that may have come from Victorian slang. The earliest known source, according to the Online Slang Dictionary, is gay male culture from the 1960s, especially cartoonist.

Charles Rippon (right) and Edd Kroust stopped into Leftwich’s photo studio on J Street sometime between 1881 and 1884 to have their portrait taken in lovely matching frocks.


Gay Slang Terms from The Mid-century to the 70s

Midway through the 20th century, homosexuality stayed illegal throughout the country; however, in 1962, Illinois became the first state to decriminalize same-sex relationships.

Due to the Red Scare, which was sparked by former Wisconsin senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist rhetoric, the 1950s were particularly challenging for LGBTQ people. Radical thinkers, labor union officials, and queer people were among those who were targeted by McCarthyism; the latter group was referred to as "deviants".

In a show of defiance, homosexual and lesbian bars on the underground scene flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. This helped to create a vibrant queer society and vocabulary. Gay men even developed a "hanky code" during the 1960s and 1970s, which involved donning bandanas in a variety of hues to indicate whether you were a top, bottom, into BDSM, etc.

"Friend of Dorothy" is one of the most well-known expressions to have emerged from this period and is slang for a gay male. According to some sources, the phrase was coined by writer and activist Dorothy Parker, who married an out bisexual man and had many queer friends even during the McCarthy period.

However, the most generally accepted theory is that The Wizard of Oz is where the phrase originates.

Here are some of the other phrases and words that were popular around this time:

Queen
-The majority of people today relate the term "queen" to drag queens. However, "queen" was formerly a slang term for someone who was overly dramatic or excessive before the emergence of dance and drag cultures. A queen is someone who is "extra" in today's slang.

Screamer

-Unlike someone who is “light in the loafers”, a “screamer” is someone who is obviously gay.

Flit

-The book Catcher in the Rye made the term "flit," which refers to a gay person, famous in the 1950s. The words "fruit," "pansy," and "fairy" are also synonyms for the word "flit". Similar to the term "queer," many of these terms were initially derogatory but soon adopted by the community.

Another similar expression is "light in the loafers," which is used somewhat disparagingly to refer to someone who behaves or appears to be gay. For instance, a straight friend might say, "Yeah, but he seems a little light in the loafers, if you know what I mean," in response to a straight lady asking if their new coworker is cute.

Auntie

-Leitsch described aunties as “aging or middle-aged homosexuals, offtimes effeminate in character” and people of “settled demeanor who cautions against intemperate acts”.

Alice Blue Gown

-Dick Leitsch, a journalist and campaigner for LGBT rights, claims that "Alice Blue Gown" was a reference to law enforcement. Leitsch, who was the president of the Mattachine Society, a gay rights group in the 1960s, devised the "Sip-In," a protest conducted in New York City bars to forbid serving openly gay patrons. If bars were discovered to be serving alcohol to LGBTQ people at the time, they could be closed down by the authorities.