However, like any game of telephone, information that gets passed along doesn’t always hold its truth.
We must remember this was a time when discretion was life or death.
We can even look back at this ( ) New York Times article from 1991 that mentions a piercing in the right ear as a “discreet symbol” of one’s sexuality. A particularly rebellious person might even pierce their cartilage! With this slow introduction of piercing into the public eye, it was quickly cemented into many minds that the singular piercing in the right lobe on a man was synonymous with being gay. The transition into being more mainstream, was around the time that people were daring to get second and third earlobe piercings. It was only worn by rock stars and tattoo artists. Body piercing for such a long time, wasn’t something your average person supported. during an era where piercing was just beginning to blossom. These various codes were a form of protection, a small way to tell people in-the-know what their preferences were without outing themselves and potentially changing/ending their lives.Īs people began to catch wind of what the LGBTQIA+ communities were using, a phrase few remember as familiar was born: “Left is right and right is wrong.” (“wrong” here at the time was used to mean gay.) This phrase spread across the U.S.
People in these communities would gather together in secret bars, or meet up around trails in local parks after dark, they even used certain forms of code (which varied from location to location) to subtly tell people they were gay. This need for secrecy led to some creative ways to live a lifestyle that was typically frowned upon. It was common to be physically attacked if it were found out that you were anything but straight. Many people lived in fear of losing their jobs, homes, families, and even their lives. This is a time where there were no legal or social protections for people who were apart of these communities. A different time, when it was not acceptable to be out as LGBTQIA+ publicly.
To find out how an ear piercing could carry this kind of symbolism we need to look back to the 70’s and 80’s in America. It’s time to shed some light on what’s true and what’s myth with a little history lesson on how one specific piercing developed such recognition as a gay symbol. So, just in time for pride month, the team here at Amato decided to delve deeper into where this all started. In piercing studios around the country these questions are still asked today: “Does one side have any special meaning? You know….which ear is the gay ear?”ĭespite changing times and modern progress, many people still associate body piercings (particularly a single piercing in the earlobe) as a symbol of someones sexuality.