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Gay Dictionary
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
Gay Slang with Scott and Mitch
Info: LGBTQ Terminology
Thought Catalog: Gay Slang Phrases
Wikipedia: Terminology of Homosexuality
Morgan McMichaels Video: Drag Slang on Hollywood Blvd
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
History of Gay and Other
Queer Words
Straight People Guess Gay Slang
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
Words the LGBTQ
Community Has Reclaimed (And Some We Haven't)
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and
the Semantics of Sexuality
LGBTQ Slang
Many slang
words and colloquial expressions in general usage in the LGBTQ
community are derived from the everyday street jargon
and informal speech employed by the drag subculture, the black gay subculture,
the underground ballroom subculture, the gay bar scene, the gay dating scene,
and the online chat texting community.

--Gold Star Lesbian: Lesbian who has never had sex with a
man.
--Platinum Gay: Gay man who has never had sex with a
woman.
--Lipstick Lesbian: Lesbian who prefers to wear makeup
and looks extremely (conventionally) feminine. High
femme.
--Chapstick Lesbian: Lesbian who presents between
masculine and feminine, often dressing in comfortable,
sensible, understated clothing. Soft butch.
--Hasbian: Former Lesbian.
--LUG: Lesbian Until Graduation. Women who
experiment with lesbianism while in college.
--Beard/Fag Hag/Fruit Fly: Straight woman who
hangs out almost exclusively with gay men.
--Fag Stag: Straight man drawn to the company of gay men.
--Stromosexual: Straight acting homosexual male.
--SAG: Straight acting gay.

--Futch: Halfway between femme and butch.
--Stem: Stud and femme. Simultaneously presenting as
masculine and feminine. Tomboy.
--Boi: Masculine woman (young dyke, soft butch) or feminine
man (young gay man, twink).
--Stone
Butch: Someone who presents extremely masculine.
--Celesbian: Lesbian who is a celebrity. Famous lesbian.
Example: Ellen DeGeneres.
--Dykon: Famous lesbian. Also: Famous woman (straight or
lesbian) admired by lesbians.
--Bicon: Bisexual icon. Example: Lady Gaga.
--OWL: Older Wiser Lesbian. An elderly lesbian.
--Salsa Queen: Gay man who has an interest in or
attraction to Mexican men.
--Rice Queen: Gay man who has an interest in or
attraction to Asian men.
--Gaysian: Gay Asian. Example: BD Wong.
--Baby Butch: Young, boyish lesbian.
--Baby Dyke: Young or recently out lesbian.
--Dyke Alike/Double Homo: Gay couple who dress
alike or wear each other's clothes.

--Pitcher: Giver in a gay relationship. Top.
--Catcher: Receiver in a gay relationship. Bottom.
--Switcher: Alternates between giver and receiver.
Versatile (Vers). Duo.
--Top: Dominant sexual position. Giver.
--Bottom: Submissive sexual position. Receiver.
--Vers: Versatile sexual position. Switch. Alternating.
--Pillow Princess: Someone who enjoys the receiving role
in sex, but doesn't like to give. Derogatory term.
--Twink: Attractive, boyish-looking gay young man.
Slender with little to no body hair. Blonde bimbo. Not
particularly intelligent.
--Masc: Shorthand for
“masculine.” Term used in online chats and personal ads
when exchanging one's physical statistics.
--Beefcake: Attractive,
masculine gay man with well-developed muscles.
Compare this term with
the older, now outdated, equivalent term for women,
“cheesecake.”
--Auntie: Older, often effeminate and
gossipy gay man.
--Daddy: Typically older gay man.
--Flamer: Extremely effeminate
(flamboyant) gay man.
--Mary: Nickname for a gay man's real name.
Used with affection or familiarity by another gay man.
--Friend of Dorothy
(FOD): Gay man. Reference to Wizard of
Oz.
Gay Dictionary
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
Gay Slang with Mitch and Avi
Info: LGBTQ Symbols
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
History of the Word "Twink"
Thought Catalog: Gay Slang Phrases
Straight People Guess Gay Slang
Wikipedia: Terminology of Homosexuality
Morgan McMichaels Video: Drag Slang on Hollywood Blvd
History
of Gay and Other Queer Words
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and
the Semantics of Sexuality
Info: Offensive Language
Why Gay Men Call Each Other "Girl"

--Ace:
Someone who identifies on the asexual spectrum.
--Aro: Someone who identifies on the aromantic spectrum.
--AroAce: Someone who identifies as both aromantic and
asexual.
--Ace of Spades: Someone who identifies as an aromantic
asexual.
--Ace of Hearts: Someone who identifies as a romantic
asexual.
--Breeder - Heterosexual (straight) person, especially
one with children.
--CisHet: Abbreviation for someone who is cisgender and
heterosexual.
--Vanilla:
Heterosexual activity (sex) that is conventional,
uncreative, unadventurous, and boring.
--Unicorn: Bisexual woman who wants to be a part of a
threesome. The conventional wisdom is that, much like a
mythical creature, this person is hard to find or does not exist.
--Enby: Non-binary person.
The term derives from the abbreviation "NB." Genderqueer,
gender non-conforming, gender creative. Identifies as
neither male or female.
--Poz: Usually gay, HIV-positive person.


--Face Beat: When someone applies makeup in a way
that they've gone from ordinary to out-of-this-world
stunning.
--Dusted: Being polished, elegant, stylish, refined.
Looking good.
--Busted: Being messy, disarrayed, untidy, disheveled.
Looking bad.
--On Fleek: On point,
complete, flawlessly styled, well groomed, looking
great, fashion perfection. Combination of "fly" and
"sleek." Usage: "Her outfit was totally on fleek" or
"Her eyebrows were on fleek."
--Snatched: New term that means the same as "on fleek."
Usage: "Damn, your eyebrows look snatched."
--Thicc: Full figured.
--AF: As Fuck. Adjective used as the tag at the end of a
phrase, as in, "gay as fuck" or "delicious as fuck."
--AAF: As A Friend. Descriptor to clarify a
relationship, as in, "She's going to the parade with me
AAF."
--GOAT: Greatest Of All Time.
--JAWG: Just A Wild Guess.
--TBH: To
Be Honest.
--Twerk: Sexually suggestive.
--Werk: Kudos. Well done.
--Slay: To
do something exceptionally well. Usage: "Her performance
slayed."
--Slaps:
Impressive. Strikes you as good. Usage: "That outfit
slaps."
--Shook:
To be shaken or disturbed by something. Usage: "I was
shook when I heard the news."
--Lit:
Really good. Usage: "That idea is lit."
--Woke:
Socially aware.
--Extra:
Over the top. Too much. Excessive.
--Yaaaassss: Immediate, excited response when you really
love something.

--Daddy/Mommy Dom:
Dominant partner is a BDSM relationship.
--Baby
Girl/Boy: Submissive partner in a BDSM relationship.
--Thirst/Thirsty:
Desperately seeking approval. Slang
term is to describe someone who is desperate or overly
eager. A thirsty person is constantly looking for a
person to date.
--In The Life: Occupied or
engaged in some specialized and usually socially
despised way of living, such as the homosexual
subculture. In black gay circles, the term is used to
refer to participants in a gay lifestyle.
--Tea (or T): Hidden truth. Secrets. Gossip.
--Read:
To lecture or reprimand someone with mockery or a sharply worded
barrage of painful truths about him or herself,
especially in front of a crowd or audience.
--Clock: To "hit hard" verbally. If you clock someone,
you essentially strike them across the head with an
insult. It’s similar to "read," but slightly more
aggressive.
--Shade:
Negative
or disparaging remarks made to or about someone. Subtle,
sneering expression of contempt for or disgust with
someone.

--Slash: Fan of same-sex pairing. Usage: "fem slash" or
"gay slash."
--Slasher/Slashing: One who (and the act of someone who)
enjoys any media that features same-sex pairing.
--Ship: Relationship. Endorsement (desire, support) by fans for two people or
characters to get together romantically, as in "I would
definitely ship Kara and Lena" or "Wouldn't it be cool
to ship Kirk and Spock?" Can also be used as a
verb to mean compatible or agreeable, as in, "I ship you
guys."
--Shipper/Shipping: One who (and the act of someone who)
creates or devises relationships, including the
invention of novel names or combination names for
couples, as in "brangelina" for "brad" and "angelina."
--Bbz: Babes, baby. Could also be an acronym for "Best
Babe Zone."
--Bae: Sweetheart, baby. Could
also be an acronym for "Before
Anyone Else."
--U-Hauling: Moving in after the first date.
--Gaydar: Method of detecting the presence and location of gay and
lesbian individuals.
--Gayborhood: Neighborhood with a high concentration of same-sex
individuals and couples.
--Kiki: Party. Get together.
Festive gathering.
--Munch:
Meeting or
get-together of a group of BDSM
people, usually in a "vanilla" setting in
street-appropriate attire.
Wikipedia: Sexual Orientation Terminology
We Are Family: Glossary of LGBTQ Terms
Ask a Twink
Video: Old Gays Trying Out New Gay Slang
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
Words the LGBTQ
Community Has Reclaimed (And Some We Haven't)
Wikipedia: LGBTQ Slang
Info: Unicorn
UC Davis: LGBTQ Glossary of Terms
Cheesecake and Beefcake
Straight People Guess Gay Slang
Friend of Dorothy
Scarleteen: Glossary of
Sexual Terms
Gay Slang From the 70s
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
Big Book of Filth: Slang Phrases and Euphemisms

Bear Terminology
--Bear: Hairy/heavy
set gay man
--Grizzly: Hairy/heavy set outdoors
type gay man
--Bruin: Hairy/heavy
set athletic gay man
--Panda Bear: Hairy/heavy set Asian gay man
--Black Bear: Hairy/heavy set African American gay man
--Brown Bear: Hairy/heavy set Hispanic gay man
--Polar Bear: Hairy/heavy set silver, white or gray haired gay man
--Ginger Bear: Hairy/heavy set red haired gay man
--Berenstein
Bear: Hairy/heavy
set Jewish gay man
--Koala Bear: Hairy/heavy
set Australian gay man
--Honey
Badger: Hairy blonde gay man, typically not muscular or
heavy set
--Otter: Lean and hairy gay man
--Cub: Young hairy gay man
--Chaser: Non hairy man who likes hairy men
--Goldilocks: Heterosexual female in the company of bears
(fag hag)
--Ursula: Butch lesbians who participate in the bear culture
--Woof: Greeting used by bears
Gay Dictionary
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
Gay Slang with Mitch and Avi
Info: LGBTQ Symbols
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
History of the Word "Twink"
Thought Catalog: Gay Slang Phrases
Wikipedia: Terminology of Homosexuality
Morgan McMichaels Video: Drag Slang on Hollywood Blvd
History
of Gay and Other Queer Words
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and
the Semantics of Sexuality
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
Info: Offensive Language
Why Gay Men Call Each Other "Girl"

Friend of Dorothy
In gay
slang, a "Friend of Dorothy" (FOD) is a gay man and more
broadly, any LGBTQ person. A reference to the Wizard of
Oz story, the phrase dates back to at least World War
II, when homosexual acts were illegal in the United
States. Stating that, or asking if, someone was a Friend
of Dorothy was a euphemism used for discussing sexual
orientation without others knowing its meaning.
The precise origin of the term is unknown. Some believe
that it is derived from The Road to Oz (1909), a sequel
to the original Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The book
introduces readers to Polychrome who, upon meeting
Dorothy's travelling companions, exclaims, "You have
some queer friends, Dorothy", and she replies, "The
queerness doesn't matter, so long as they're friends."
There are numerous references to LGBTQ characters and
relationships, including an innuendo about bisexuality,
when Dorothy asks Scarecrow which way to go on the
yellowbrick road and he says, "Of course some people go
both ways," although it's unknown if these
references were intentional.
More
commonly, it is stated that "Friend of Dorothy" refers
to the derivative 1939 film The Wizard of Oz because
Judy Garland, who starred as the main character Dorothy,
is a gay icon. In the film, Dorothy is accepting of
those who are different. For example, the "gentle lion"
giving the line, "I'm afraid there's no denyin', I'm
just a dandy lion." The Wizard of Oz has a "particular
resonance in the culture of the queer community." The
struggles faced by Dorothy, Toto, and friends,
especially against the Wicked Witch of the West and her
flying monkeys, can metaphorically mirror the
difficulties of coming out. How the group of outcasts
worked together likewise mirrors LGBTQ people who create
new chosen families. Researchers also note there is an
absence of a heteronormative male-female romance, and
Dorothy and her friends "do not need to change
themselves to become who they want to be." Many see
Garland’s portrayal as a "queer journey, an escape from
the puritanical, morally rigid, black-and-white
small-town life to Technicolor city existence with
fabulous friends."

Additionally relevant is the classic song, “Somewhere
Over the Rainbow” that Dorothy (Judy Garland) sings,
which was possibly “the most memorable performance” of
Garland’s career, and the song that “contributed to the
evolution of the rainbow flag as a gay icon.” The song
“served as a cultural catalyst, propelling the eventual
embrace of the rainbow symbol by the world's LGBTQ
communities.” Time Magazine, in its August 1967 review of
Garland's final engagement at New York's Palace Theatre,
observed that a disproportionate number of audience
members were homosexual.
Wikipedia: Sexual Orientation Terminology
We Are Family: Glossary of LGBTQ Terms
Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland
Video: Old Gays Trying Out New Gay Slang
Wikipedia: LGBTQ Slang
Info: Unicorn
UC Davis: LGBTQ Glossary of Terms
Cheesecake and Beefcake
Friend of Dorothy
Scarleteen: Glossary of
Sexual Terms
Gay Slang From the 70s
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
Straight People Guess Gay Slang
Big Book of Filth: Slang Phrases and Euphemisms

Read
"Read" means to
tell someone about him or herself. Knowing exactly where
another person is “coming from'” and telling the person
about it, especially in front of a crowd or audience (RuPaul’s
Drag Race). The truth behind what someone is saying.
To understand (Do you read me?). An attack on one’s
credibility. To lecture someone with mockery or a
sharply worded barrage of painful truths about him or
herself. Popularized by New York City drag queens in the
documentary movie Paris is
Burning.
"That was a read, honey!"
"Don't do it honey, I
will read your ass."
“He was upset because I
was reading him.”
Possible origins:
"Read between the lines"
– To look for subtle or hidden subtext
"Read the meter" – To
make sure everything's alright
"Read him the riot act" -
To reprimand or scold someone
“Read him like a book” –
To foretell or easily discern or understand someone
Wikipedia: Sexual Orientation Terminology
Friend of Dorothy
We Are Family: Glossary of LGBTQ Terms
Info: Archaic Language
Ask a Twink
Wikipedia: LGBTQ Slang
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
UC Davis: LGBTQ Glossary of Terms
Scarleteen: Glossary of
Sexual Terms
Info: Unicorn
Gay Slang From the 70s
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
Big Book of Filth: Slang Phrases and Euphemisms

Throwing Shade
You don't
have to watch RuPaul's Drag Race to have heard
the expression “throw shade,” “throwing shade,” or
sometimes just “shade.”
“Shade” refers to
negative or disparaging remarks made to or about
someone. “Shade” is a subtle, sneering expression of
contempt for or disgust with someone.
The first recorded use of
“shade” to refer to an insult is from the 1990
documentary Paris is Burning, which chronicles
the drag scene in mid-1980s Manhattan as seen through
the eyes of young Latino and black drag queens.
According to E. Patrick
Johnson, a professor of African-American studies at
Northwestern University who has written on insults
within the gay and black communities, “shade” is
something that has been a part of the American black
experience since slavery, when a direct insult could
result in death. "African-Americans developed these
covert ways of communication, which, over time, have
morphed into the traditional ways that they interact
with one another."
Thanks in part to
Paris Is Burning, “shade” began to enter the
mainstream in the early 1990s, first appearing in places
like the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Los
Angeles Times. It even appeared in a jokey headline
about an eclipse: "Uppity Earth Throws Shade.”
Gay Dictionary
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
Bob the Drag
Queen: Drag Slang Tutorial
History of the Word "Twink"
Gay Slang with Scott and Mitch
Info: LGBTQ Terminology
Thought Catalog: Gay Slang Phrases
Wikipedia: Terminology of Homosexuality
Morgan McMichaels Video: Drag Slang on Hollywood Blvd
History
of Gay and Other Queer Words
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and
the Semantics of Sexuality
Pink News: Lesbian Slang and Queer Lingo

Spilling the Tea
Like “shade” and “read,”
“tea” originated in drag culture, and specifically black
drag culture. It means "to tell your secret" or "to
reveal the hidden truth." More informally, it simply
means "to gossip."
When it was first popularized in general
print, it could be spelled “T” or “tea” and it didn't
refer to the drink. One of the early print uses of “T”
comes from John Berendt's nonfiction best seller,
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. In it, he
is interviewing Lady Chablis, a prominent drag performer
in Savannah, about her dating life, and she notes that
she avoids certain men because they're prone to violence
when they "find out her T.”
"What’s my T? Yeah, my T.
My thing, my business, what's going on in my life."
-Lady Chablis
Chablis' interviews in
Berendt's book gave the world a peek into the vocabulary
of black drag culture. “T” is short for “truth,” and her
truth is that she's transgender. (It's worth noting that
Chablis herself uses the letter “T” instead of the word
“tea” in her 1997 autobiography, and glosses it as "my
truth.")
It appears that “T,” also
rendered as “tea,” has a double-edged meaning in black
drag culture. It could refer to a hidden truth, as
Chablis uses it, and it could also refer to someone
else's hidden truth, that is, gossip.
The phrase "spill the
tea," used as an encouragement to gossip, has been used
in everything from Harlequin romance novels to
RuPaul's Drag Race.
Comedian Larry Wilmore
used "weak tea" regularly on his 2015-16 Comedy Central
show in response to people who weren't telling the
absolute truth.
As drag culture (and
particularly black drag culture) gained prominence, so
too did this dual meaning use of “tea.” It has spread
far beyond black drag culture at this point.
Gay Dictionary
Friend of Dorothy
Ask a Twink
Straight People Guess Gay Slang
Encyclopedia of Homosexuality
Gay Slang with Scott and Mitch
Info: LGBTQ Terminology
Words the LGBTQ
Community Has Reclaimed (And Some We Haven't)
Thought Catalog: Gay Slang Phrases
LGBTQ Slang
Illustrated
History of the Word "Twink"
Wikipedia: Terminology of Homosexuality
Morgan McMichaels Video: Drag Slang on Hollywood Blvd
History
of Gay and Other Queer Words
Queer Terminology: LGBTQ Histories and
the Semantics of Sexuality
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