I’m just curious. How long has the term “beard” been used in reference to a gay man marrying a woman to keep up straight appearances?
Sorry if this has been asked before. I searched the archives and didn’t see anything.
Weird. This thread isn’t showing up in GQ during a search.
Bumping it to see if there’s some problem. I can’t imagine this question would be offensive enough to delete.
This cite dates it to the 1960s. My Random House slang dictionary has an example from 1972.
I remember hearing the term, exclusively within gay circles, in the mid-60s, but I don’t believe it crossed over to the general population til at least the late 70s to early 80s.
I’m sure that word was used to describe Henry Kissinger in Charles Ashman’s 1972 book, Kissinger: The Adventures of Super Kraut. Kissinger would appear in public with a married friend and a beautiful model or actress who people would assume (incorrectly) was with Kissinger instead of the married guy.
The term was also used in Woody Allen’s “Broadway Danny Rose” (1984) to describe a guy pretending to date the girlfriend of a married guy. I had no idea it originated as a term for a gay/straight relationship until now.
I’d never heard of it before now either.
Why ‘beard’? What’s the pun? Is it that’s its just a visible accoutrement serving no real purpose?
A beard makes you look like a Real Man. I suppose the implication is that gays aren’t Real Men.
I had no idea it could refer to a guy pretending to date the girlfriend of a married guy.