GAY PERCEPTIONS: SPEAK THE LANGUAGE! Nishit Saran June 28, 2000 786 words Coming out of the closet is like visiting a foreign country. Not only because you are exposed to cultures and practices that you had only dimly imagined previously but also because the language is so often completely alien to you. Well, maybe not completely alien. It sounds like English. It is English. But this is a kind of English that the uninitiated rarely ever understand. After all, what - or who - on earth is a trolley-dolly-papa-gateau-curry-queen? And what exactly am I supposed to do when you ask me to make love college style? And who in God’s name are these Fish and Chips you keep referring to? The vast jargon that gay people have accumulated over the last couple of centuries is, after a thought, not surprising. When you could be arrested any moment for declaring your sexuality, how are you supposed to discuss your life in a coffee shop without inventing a new language? What is amazing, though, is how words invented two centuries ago - in invisibility – are still in common gay cultural usage today, across the world. A secret language has been passed on and has shaped and cemented a community - some argue that it has even created the community in some ways. For this reason alone, gay jargon has significant historical interest – it marks the beginnings of an emergent underground gay culture and the spread of this culture across time and space. But gay jargon also reflects the tremendous creativity and sense of humor that gay people have brought to their existence. So many words that were earlier insults and stereotypes have been converted into affectionate terms. Nazi labels and symbols of gay oppression – such as the pink triangle that identified homosexuals in concentration camps - have been adopted as marks of pride. Acts and identities once treated with shame have been renamed with love and irony. Here, then, is a primer on gay jargon – if not to educate you, then at least to make you hip enough! Note that some of the following words are… well, naughty! You have been warned! First, a translation of the jargon above: Trolley-dolly-papa-gateau-curry-queen This is a male flight attendant (trolley dolly) who likes taking care of young men (papa gateau) who are preferably Indian or Pakistani in origin (curry queen)! Other profession-related jargon apart from ‘trolley dolly’ includes ‘scissor queen’ for both fashion designers and hair stylists, and ‘coffin queen’ for funeral directors and, inexplicably, florists! Papa gateaus are most commonly known as sugar daddies. They can also be called a meal ticket or a Santa Claus. Older gay men in general, though, are often at the brunt of much gay jargon reflecting the unfortunate ageism that is a problem in contemporary gay culture. They can be called, variously: aunt, auntie, toad, troll, wheelchair set, chin-strap or – most cleverly – aging actress! ‘Curry queen’ comes in a long list of ‘queens’ specifying various racial preferences. A rice queen prefers East Asians while a chocolate queen prefers blacks. A mocha queen beds only Latinos while a snow queen can’t get enough of whites! College style To make love ‘college style’ is to mimic anal sex act without actually doing it, something that became quite big in the late Eighties, when AIDS first hit the USA. A term for an unfortunate practice of the late 90s is ‘bare-backing’ which is penetration without condoms, a practice that emerged after new hopes for an AIDS cure. Jargon for common sexual acts is, of course, extensive. The act of oral sex for men can be called many polite and impolite things, such as blowing the whistle, brushing the teeth, cuffing the carrot, getting a facial, playing the flute, worshipping at the altar, fast food sex, French job, French dressing, lip service and zipper sex! Oral sex between women can be called, naughtily, a box lunch, a moustache ride, lickety split and muff diving! Anal sex jargon is as bizarre: baking potatoes, bonking, corn-holing, Greeking, hotdogging, Oscar-izing and sexualizing! But perhaps the funniest terms are those for masturbation. These include choking the chipmunk, spanking the monkey, five-finger Annie, five-knuckle sandwich, and – simply – self-service! Fish and Chips Finally, “Fish and Chips” refers to the wife and children of a married gay man! Heterosexuals are insultingly referred to as ‘breeders’ – those who breed. More loving terms for more loved heterosexuals are ‘fag hag’ and ‘fag stag’ – respectively, a heterosexual woman or man who hangs out a lot with gay men. This, of course, is just an introductory glimpse into gay jargon. To learn much much more, check out the amazing ‘Wizard’s Gay Slang Dictionary’ on the Internet. The address is http://www.hurricane.net/~wizard/19a.html Speak the language… and join the great march of gay history!