👑 the lost queens of queer slang (or is that quean?) 👑

QUEER WORD
QUEEN

What It Means:

In queer slang, particularly among gay and bisexual men in the mid-20th century, queen was a reclaimed slur used to refer to effeminate gay men or, more broadly, as a casual way to address other gay men.

A truly versatile term, it could be affectionate, self-deprecating, or even slightly catty depending on context.

The term spawned countless compound variations describing different ‘types’ of gay men based on their preferences, appearance, or behaviour - for example, size queen, muscle queen, drama queen, and so on.

While queen is still used today (mainly in drag culture), many of the hyper-specific subcategories popular in the '60s and '70s have largely faded from use.

Let’s Use It In A Sentence:

My uncle Gerard casually referred to himself as a ‘tube queen’ and I had to pretend I knew what that meant whilst making a mental note to google it later.

A Little Bit of History

If I used the word queen today you'd likely think of a drag queen first.

No, actually, wait.

You might first think about the royal variety of queen (which maybe shows how deep into the world of queer slang I am).

Nonetheless, the point I was trying to make still stands. Our modern use of the word queen can be fairly limited.

But, back in the '60s and '70s it was far more commonly used in everyday language by gay and bi men when talking to each other. As a reclaimed slur it had a range of uses - a form of affection, a form of self-deprecation, a form of identity and in-group signalling.

Though it's largely fallen out of favour, there are some variations you're probably still familiar with (size queen, muscle queen).

But what were some of the other terms that have now all but disappeared?

Well, I thought it would be fun to explore some of these more obscure queens listed in various slang dictionaries and magazines of the time to consider which of these very much still belong in the past, and which ones we should really have a long hard think about reintroducing.

But, before that…

Origin of the Term

Nobody's exactly sure where and why the term queen started being used as a gay slur, but there are a few theories floating around. Let’s see, there’s….

Theory 1 - the obvious one

It comes from Queen itself (as in the royal variety), implying the person in question is feminine and, well, a bit precious.

Theory 2 - the Cockney one 

Stick with me on this one because it can get confusing. If you’re not already familiar with Cockney rhyming slang, the general rule is that you replace a word with a phrase that rhymes with it, but then drop the rhyming word from the phrase.

So, instead of saying 'having a look' you might say 'having a butchers' because 'look' rhymes with 'butcher's hook' (but you drop the word that rhymes, 'hook').

Or, instead of saying ‘use your head,’ you'd say ‘use your loaf’ (because ‘loaf of bread’ rhymes with ‘head’, but you drop the ‘of bread’ part).

Following so far?

So, with these rules in mind the theory here goes that queen may be Cockney rhyming slang for ‘fairy’ (another old-timey slur for gay and bisexual men), which links to the fact that ‘Queen Mary’ (as in Mary of Teck, who married King George V in 1893) rhymes with ‘fairy.’

Phew.

Theory 3 - Nothing to do with monarchs, actually

This theory is my favourite.

It suggests that the term has nothing to do with royal Queens at all, but comes from the similar-sounding word ‘quean’, which is an old English term used to describe an impudent or badly behaved woman.

I mean, it's still problematic and misogynistic as all hell, but at least it's slightly more original than likening gay men to a fancy woman in a sparkly crown.

Whatever its origins, as seems to be the way for the queer community, the term was reclaimed by gay men in the 1950s and '60s, gaining particular prominence in early drag culture and the burgeoning gay rights movement.

And that's what I love about it. A term created to denigrate and punch down became this entire taxonomy of ridiculous, intricate in-jokes.

List of forgotten (and not so forgotten) queens

Before we get into it, a few notes:

• Times being what they were, some of the terms I found were pretty problematic, so I have excluded them from this list.

• I'm somewhat dubious (what? me? cynical?) that all of these were actually in common use. But it's fun to imagine anyway.

Ok, let’s get in to it!

Alley queen – One who seeks out sexual encounters down dark alleys.

Arrow queen – One who, for all intents and purposes, appears straight (as an arrow).

Brownie queen – The passive partner in sex.

Buy queen – A homosexual man who has a constant desire to buy home furnishings (imagine being defined by your love of scatter cushions!)

Catalogue queen – A homosexual man who collects physique magazines for the purpose of... well... self-stimulation.

Clean queen – A homosexual who does his cruising at the laundromat whilst washing his clothes. (This was a real thing! Laundromats used to be the place you'd go to meet people. They even hosted singles nights!)

Closet queen – An individual who hides their homosexuality (this might be a good time to remind you of the 1972 should’ve-been-a-hit, ‘Closet Queen’ by Harrison Kennedy).

Cucumber queen – Someone who enjoys sticking phallic vegetables inside themselves. (No further questions at this time.)

Dangle queen – An exhibitionist (because he likes to ‘dangle’ certain appendages).

Diplomat queen – A tactful homosexual who always tries to keep the peace.

Drag queen – The most well-known. A person, usually male, who dresses in women's clothing and performs.

Eclair queen – A rich homosexual. (presumably because eclairs are fancy?)

Electric queen – A homosexual following the hippie lifestyle.

Encore queen – Someone who ‘revisits’ ex-lovers.

Erector-set queen – A construction worker. (Erector-sets were a popular building toy at the time - think proto-Lego made of metal.)

Express queen – One who combines hitchhiking on the freeway with cruising. (Hitchhiking! People actually did this!)

Fire queen – A militant homosexual.

Follow queen – One who follows his intended lover for seemingly miles before plucking up the courage to say hello.

Goodrich queen – One who passes bad cheques that always bounce. (Goodrich was a tyre company known for... bouncing.)

Gray queen – The conservative, buttoned-up-in-a-smart-suit type of gay.

Lone queen – A loner.

Muscle queen – A homosexual man who works hard to create a firm, defined physique.

Payoff queen – A man who pays for sex.

Size queen – A person who prefers partners with a large penis.

Skin queen – One who regards his partners as objects rather than real people.

Sneak queen – An unfaithful lover.

Statue queen – A young, beautiful man totally in love with himself.

Stringbean queen – A tall, thin young gay.

Tube queen – One who watches television a lot. But the implication is that they're a bit of a stick-in-the-mud and just want to stay home rather than go out and have fun.

Xerox queen – One whose sex life is so narrow that he treats all of his lovers alike, as though they were copies of each other. (I hope I don't need to explain what a Xerox is, but for those too young to know, it's a photocopier brand that became synonymous with… well… photocopying.)

How many of these have you heard before? Any notable terms missing?

Oh, and, most importantly - do you think it’s time to revive the ‘queen’ taxonomy for a new generation?

Answer the poll below and let me know your thoughts!