The Old, Secret Style Language Of The LGTBQ+ Community



Have you ever heard of the hanky code? The banana code? What about flagging? It\'s okay if you haven\'t, but it\'s actually pretty cool. In the \'70s, the handkerchief code gained popularity among gay men who were in search of casual sex. The handkerchiefs were placed in your back pocket, essentially, and depending on the color, symbolized a sexual fetish or a position. There was even a meaning behind which pocket you tucked it in. Codes like this were crucial to the early development of LGBTQ+ communities, but date back even further than the Gay Liberation movement, to the mid- to late-19th century (like, the Gold Rush), and are still used in cities across the globe today.Though complex in theory, the origin of the secret language is varied, too. While some people believe it originated in San Francisco due to a shortage of women at square dances where men would end up dancing with each other — a blue bandana around one\'s neck meant they took the \"female\" part, while red symbolized the \"

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/200229/lgbtq-secret-handkerchief-code-language?utm_source=feed&utm_medium=rss

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