Language and Sexuality

Polari

'secret language' developed by homosexual men when it was illegal to be Gay. It was a form of initiation into the gay subculture and often came with their new camp name given to them by an older gay man. Polari was particularly well known by London west-end chorus boys and male prostitutes. A mixture of overlapping 'low forms' of slang associated with travelling or stigmatised groups. eg made up work such as bevvy - drink omi-palone - gay man

Lackoff

Gay men's speech traits are similar to those of women's. Gay men intentionally do this. Use features such as superlatives (e.g. divine), inflected intonation, lisping e.t.c.

William Leap

Lavender linguistics is a term used by linguistics and advanced by William Leap to describe the study of language as it is used by gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) speakers. Words like "hot" and "hunk," when describing an attractive person, came from the clubs and after-hours parties of Harlem, he says.

Paul Baker

Polari- research shows that language is generally categories by acronyms, play on words, double meaning and specialised coded lexis.

Arnold Zwicky

he suggested that is it a myth that gay people can be 'spotted' based on their behaviour There are different ways the LGBTQ+ use language: Gays vs homosexuals: some people prefer one or the other but there is a distinct feature amongst the people it applies to. (behaviour vs identity) Lesbian Vs Dyke: Dyke referring to a more 'in your face lesbians' reclaimed words: Dyke and faggort are both considered derogatory previously but now have been reclaimed by the LGBTQ+ community