From green carnations to carabiners, the language of queer coding has spoken volumes in silence for decades. Queer coding refers to the subtle, often non-verbal ways LGBTQ+ individuals express or signify their identity, both to each other and to a wider audience. These codes are shaped by history, culture and a need for safety, and they take on unique forms in everything from fashion to film.
Aiden VanderStouwe, director of the Gender Studies Department at Boise State, explained what exactly queer coding is.
“It’s a secret way to identify yourself to those in the know, and it’s something queer people have done for a long time,” VanderStouwe said. “Oscar Wilde used to wear green carnations as a symbol of queerness, the hanky code in the mid-1900s served as a way to indicate specific aspects of your sexuality to those familiar with what each color hanky represented; a present-day example could include cuffing your jeans as a marker of being bisexual.”
Queer coding is also heavily prevalent in media, defined by VanderStouwe as “giving some sort of trait typically associated with queerness to a character in media that can create an interpretation without any sort of explicit mention.”
In everyday life, certain styles or items have become coded within queer communities, functioning as subtle signals to one another. While these items may seem mundane, they often carry a deeper meaning.
Once solely associated with climbing, carabiners are an example of a classic queer symbol, particularly among lesbians and nonbinary people. Cuffing jeans or pants is another recognizable queer fashion trend, especially among bisexual people.
Queer coding in media originated largely due to the restrictive Hays Code, introduced in the 1930s, which banned explicit representations of homosexuality in film. Filmmakers found creative ways to signal queerness, using costume, behavior and personality traits. In classic Hollywood, queer women were sometimes portrayed wearing traditionally masculine accessories, such as monocles, to imply their sexuality.
A notable example of queer coding in history is Polari — a slang language used among gay men in mid-20th century Britain. The code was utilized to communicate covertly in an era when homosexuality was criminalized. Enriched by influences from Thieves’ Cant, Italian, Romani and theater slang, Polari allowed for discreet conversations and fostered a sense of community among its speakers.
Words like bona (good) and varda (look) helped queer individuals connect, particularly in social spaces like pubs and theaters. While its use declined after homosexuality’s partial decriminalization in 1967 and mainstream exposure on radio shows, Polari remains a symbol of resilience and creativity in LGBTQ+ history.
VanderStouwe explained why queer coding was and is so popular in the LGBTQ+ community.
“If a code is used for insider identity, it’s something that provides a safer way to be selectively out without having to say anything, or without having to be direct,” VanderStouwe said. “In those ways, it may not increase outward visibility of queerness, but works to provide visibility to selective others. Other times, using something queer coded in media may provide a certain trait or practice increased familiarity that could help it gain acceptance over time.”
Queer coding is not always a positive concept. Disney films, influenced by heteronormative cultural ideals, often give villains exaggerated mannerisms or traits associated with queer stereotypes, a form of negative queer coding that plays into harmful stereotypes.
Characters like Ursula in “The Little Mermaid”, inspired by the drag queen Divine, Jafar in “Aladdin” and Scar from “The Lion King” are designed with exaggerated mannerisms, flamboyance or gender nonconformity. These portrayals link queerness to villainy, reinforcing negative stereotypes rather than promoting representation.
In a more accepting society, it is safer today to be openly queer, yet queer coding remains prevalent, especially in fashion and self-presentation. However, certain coded items, such as septum piercings and maximalist jewelry, have been widely adopted by heterosexual people, blurring the lines and making these signifiers less exclusive to the LGBTQ+ community.
Fashion trends started by queer people continue to gain mainstream traction, often shaping broader aesthetic movements.
Queer culture has led numerous style trends, from bold makeup to androgynous fashion, which have been popularized by designers and influencers alike. As these codes become mainstream, LGBTQ+ individuals sometimes find it harder to “spot” each other using traditional markers, leading to new ways of expressing identity.
VanderStouwe broke down the evolution of queer coding, from where it began to what it has become today.
“Queer coding is something that when used a long time ago in media, often was used to convey negative associations because it was ‘bad’ to be queer, so villains got coded as queer a lot,” VanderStouwe said. “If you associated this feature with being bad, you could extend that association to the people who are thought to act, behave or look that way.”
He went on to describe modern society’s response to queer coding.
“Over time, though, I think queer coding has gotten a little more explicit and a little more self-determined,” VanderStouwe explained. “Chappell Roan uses queer references frequently in her art as a queer person, but it’s to own those references and claim them, rather than to be used against others. And when it’s used in a more self-determined way, it provides visibility differently and more powerfully in the wake of an increasingly dangerous political landscape for queer individuals.
Queer coding has evolved from a means of survival to a celebrated part of LGBTQ+ culture and fashion, with historical cues taking on new forms in today’s world. Despite some codes losing exclusivity, queer people continue to influence cultural trends and develop new ways of signaling identity.
The resilience and creativity behind queer coding highlight queer people’s ongoing role in shaping style and self-expression.
