lavender, adj. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

lavender adj.

(orig. US) a euph. for homosexual and anything referring to homosexuality; also as n., homosexuality.

[1870		‘The Ninety-Ninth Hussars’ in Songs for the Army 46: Sir Lavender Silk was a pretty young man, [...] / His men, though respectful, had thoughts of their own / Which might have spoke out if they chose, / That Sir Lavender Silk had the aspect alone / Of a Lady dressed up in men’s clothes!].
1928		M. West Pleasure Man (1997) Act I: stanley: And don’t you annoy the boys, Violet. paradise: Lavender, maybe, but violet never.
1938		W. Winchell On Broadway 21 Apr. [synd. col.] In the Waldorf Sert Room: ‘He eats raw hamburger once a week – sort of tempers off the lavender in him.’ [Ibid.] 18 Aug. When he goes across the street the traffic light turns lavender.
1942		in G. Legman Limerick (1953) 107: There was a young colonel from Trent / Who lived in a lavender tent.
1956		in Confidential Mar. 🌐 Roosevelt couldn’t overlook Welles’ peccadillos and the lavender stripe Welles had added to their old school tie after an incident involving Welles and a railroad dining car steward.
1956		I. Fleming Diamonds Are Forever (1958) 128: Coupla lavender boys. You know, pansies.
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 27: lavender (adj.): A widespread term implying homosexuality. ‘To perfume with lavender ...’ Thus the ‘perfume set’ of a century ago applied lavender to mean homosexual, since the first males of the era past who used ‘perfume’ were considered feminine.
1978		A. Maupin Tales of the City (1984) 153: Chairman Jesus loves you! He loves all of us! The black and the brown and the yellow and the white . . . and the lavender! The last color was directed at the man in the prom gown.
1984		D. Leavitt Family Dancing 203: []ard-carrying members of the lavender left [Simes:DLSS].
1993		(con. 1940s) Kennedy & Davies Boots of Leather (2014) 198: ‘“What the hell are you?” [...] “A lavender butch.” This meant she was butch, but femmy’.
1995		R. Stevenson Shock to System 124: ‘[T]here are buttfuckers under every rock who have Bill Clinton in their pocket and under their thumb. In fact, you might as well paint the White House lavender’.
1999		Guardian Weekend 21 Aug. 5: There were several comments about beards and lavender friends.
2000		J. Ellroy ‘I’ve Got the Goods’ in Destination: Morgue! (2004) 170: We want Rock Hudson in Giant and Rock at the Lavender Lounge.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 4: Confidential labeled him ‘the Lavender Lilliputian’ and ‘Princess Tiny Meat’.
2021		https://www.colorized.com 23 Sept. 🌐 [headline] Rock Hudson Was Hollywood's Most Famous ‘Lavender’ Groom [...] Gates always insisted that it was a legitimate marriage, not a ‘lavender marriage,’ as unions arranged for gay stars were known.
2024		J. Meades Empty Wigs (t/s) 133: [T]he whole caboodle in The Green and Pleasant was [...] a prod to Attic companionship, the lavender life.

In compounds

lavender boy (n.) (also lavender lad, ...lips)

a male homosexual; thus lavender-lipped adj.

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1951		D.W. Cory Homosexual in America 112: Most of the words [in Amer. Dict. of Slang] were of infrequent usage: agfay, lavender boy, mason, nola, queervert.
1957		J. Adams Cindy & I 24: Came the sudden realization that he was attracting the attention of the Limp Wrist Set . Some of the gay boys even waved. When one lavender lad made eyes at him , he decided it was time to return home.
1966		Trimble 5000 Adult Sex Words and Phrases.
1968		K. Brasselle Cannibals 105: How is it possible to escape Lavender Lips?
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1982		Maledicta VI:1+2 (Summer/Winter) 132: Twilight men was common in the days of lavender lads and pansies.
2002		in ‘Ben Trovato’ On the Run (2007) 32: Some lavender-lipped, bunny-hugging mooncalf went snivelling to the Constitutional Court.

lavender cowboy (n.)

an effeminate man; thus a male homosexual.

c.1926		Harold Hersey ‘Lavender Cowboy’ 🎵 He was only a lavender cowboy, / The hairs on his chest were two, / But he wished to follow the heroes / And fight like the he-men do.
1940		Dayton Dly News (OH) 17 Mar. 16/3: Then there is the ‘Lavender Cowboy’ [...] banned solely because of its title.
2002		(ref. to 1935) P. Stanfield Horse Opera: The [...] 1930s Singing Cowboy 119: In Tumbling Tumbleweeds the heavies call Autry a ‘lavender cowboy,’ an obvious insinuation of effeminacy and homosexuality.
2002		‘Fashion Police’ Durango Tel. 22–28 Aug. 🌐 This is an excellent specimen of what we like to refer to as the ‘Lavender Cowboy.’ These individuals have embraced western ideals and a pioneer way of life, but usually lack the requisite callouses and fencing skills that are common to most actual cowboys. Large chunks of turquoise, brilliantly bright bolos, and lizard or ostrich skin Tony Lamas are all tell-tale signs of the ‘Lavender Cowboy’.

lavender desperado (n.)

(US gay, west.) a sexually eager gay cowboy.

2022

(con. late 19C) J. Nevins ‘Western frontier gay slang’ on Twitter 2 Mar. 🌐 ‘lavender desperado’ = horny gay cowboy; presumably after ‘alfalfa desperado’ (a farmer).

lavender dollar (n.)

(Aus./US gay) the homosexual community’s disposable income.

1997

Weekend Austral. (Sydney) 15 Feb. 21/3: [G]ay pride, the lavender dollar and the removal of legal prohibitions on gay behaviour are wiping out the need for bogus relations between gays and straights [Simes:DLSS].

lavender law (n.)

legal issues, practice and study pertaining to the gay and lesbian community.

1999

Gaymart.com Queer Sl. in the Gay 90s 🌐 Lavender Law – Legal issues, practice and study pertaining to the gay and lesbian community.

lavender marriage (n.)

an ostensibly heterosexual marriage in which one or both partners is/are in fact homosexual or bisexual; typically entered into by celebrities.

1887		J.C. Biddle-Cope Mad 6: This drab and lavender marriage carried her out of John’s reach, and relieved him of an agonising consciousness of responsibility towards her.
2005		(ref. to 1920s) Harbin et al. (eds) Gay & Lesbian Theatrical Legacy 106: Kit [Katherine Cornell] and Guth [Guthrie McClintic] had a lavender marriage, a marriage of convenience and companionship, while each maintained homosexual relationships.
2011		(ref. to 1930s) Roots of Equality Lavender Los Angeles 31: [Ramon Navarro] reportedly refused to enter a lavender marriage when coerced by MGM executive Louis B. Mayer , and his studio contract was not renewed .

lavender set (n.)

(US) the world of homosexuality.

1931		Vanity Fair Guide to N.Y. in Beemyn Creating a Place For Ourselves (2013) 18: Vanity Fair’s 1931 guide to New York informed its readers that the Paramount Childs [restaurant] was particularly interesting because it ‘features a dash of lavender’.
1949		E. Wilson It Happened Last Night 15 July [synd col.] L.I. cops have started a campaign to rid Fire Island of its lavender set.
1949		Newsday (Suffolk edn) 26 July 7/1: Robbins, 39-year-old member of Cherry Grove’s lavender set.
1951		L.A. Mirror 28 Mar. 8/1: A sect of limp-wristed lads exists and flourishes [i.e. in LA] [...] police officers have carefully controlled the primping and prancing of the lavender set.

In phrases

have a dash of lavender (v.) (also have a dash, ...a dash of it)

to be marginally homosexual.

1919		in L.R., Murphy Perverts by Official Order (1988) 54: ‘I am not saying that I am straight. A straight person must be straight and not reciprocate in any way.’ Just what was he then? ‘As they say in the sets I have known, it is dash of lavender’.
1929		C. Porter ‘I’m a Gigolo’ 🎵 I should like you all to know, / I’m a famous gigolo. / And of lavender, my nature's got just a dash in it. / As I’m slightly undersexed, / You will always find me next / to some dowager who's wealthy rather than passionate.
1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants I 416: ‘One uncle is single and never goes out with women. I don’t blame him. He’s always hanging around with a bunch of fellows. I think he’s got a little dash in him (homosexual).
1944		C. Jackson Lost Weekend 146: He never knew one [i.e. a homoexual] yet who didn’t think that every other man extant, extinct, or to come had a dash of it.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular.
1979		P. Theroux Old Patagonian Express [ebook] My brothers were calm, one ironical, the other squinting at a trim young man on the platform and saying, ‘A dash of lavender, Paul – watch out, he's getting on!’.
1999		T. Doherty Pre-Code Hollywood 121: The Hays office would not stand for ‘more than a dash of lavender’.

streak of lavender (n.) (also touch of lavender)

an effeminate man.

1935		A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Streak of lavender, an effeminate man; a sissy.
1944		P. Kendall Dict. Service Sl. n.p.: [T]he Flower of the Nation, a term newspapers used in referring to trainees. But a soldier uses it to refer to anyone with a touch of lavender.