# Why is "Bruce" considered a "gay name?" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169 "2005-03-25T06:40:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/41 "2016-04-13T21:31:07Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > Probably because of Johnny Carson: a stock gay character in the Mighty Carson Art Players was named Bruce. He was dropped after a viewer asked him to, because the viewer’s son was named Bruce. 😃 I seem to remember this being alluded to on an episode of Laugh In. They told of someone writing in, saying his son was named Bruce, and they said they’d stop making fun of it. ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/42 "2016-04-13T21:56:13Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > ELO? Even better-Queen. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/43 "2016-04-13T22:36:34Z")
At some point using manly names for effeminate characters was kind of an trope, then eventually those names just started being known as gay names. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2016, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/44 "2016-04-13T23:12:07Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > My dad is named Bruce! I take umbrage! :mad: You may take umbrage, but remember to put it back when you are done with it. Other people need that umbrage, & it doesn’t show up often. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/45 "2016-04-15T04:17:34Z")
Are there any gay zombies named Bruce? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/46 "2016-04-15T04:23:23Z")
> [@astro](#): > > I’m 57 and I haven’t heard the Bruce = gay association mentioned in over 40 years now since about Jr High. I thought that meme had died out in the 70’s. There’s a fair number of newly named Bruce’s still coming along so I don’t think that creaky old meme is all that powerful these days. Anyone named Lance is still gay though, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/47 "2016-04-15T16:23:54Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > There is also this - which probably reflects the idea rather than originating it: > > [https://youtu.be/GqLQUkb8kTc?t=174](https://youtu.be/GqLQUkb8kTc?t=174) > > It isn’t a particularly common given name in the UK and doesn’t have the same association as far as I know. I’m British; and I haven’t either, ever come across gay connotations of the name Bruce in the UK. For the last few decades there’s been here, of course (as referred to upthread) the endless Monty Python Australian-related “Bruce” stuff, ad nauseam so far as I’m concerned – I’m a weirdo who dislikes Monty Python. (There does come to mind the British entertainer and television presenter Bruce Forsythe, now aged 88 – his stage persona has struck me, anyway, as a little “camp”; but the gentleman himself seems to be thoroughly hetero: three wives and six kids to date.) Fort-odd years back, I associated with a group of hobbyists who nicknamed one of their number “Bruce”. They were an odd bunch (and besotted Python devotees every one): why they gave this particular bod this name, was hard to fathom. This “Bruce” was a very pretty girl, admittedly rather a tomboy – and with no connections with Australia: she came from the east of London. Maybe they chose the nickname precisely because it was completely inappropriate? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/48 "2016-04-15T16:52:18Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Anyone named Lance is still gay though, right? Not really, a given name = “gay” really is 60’s to 70’s era stuff. Maybe it’s referenced in some old Simpsons episode but IMO the notion is kind of foreign as a concept to kids these days. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/49 "2016-04-15T17:33:24Z")
> [@Cthultu](#): > > Well, considering recent developments RE: Bruce (Caitlin) Jenner, this is pretty funny. I had a science teacher in middle school named Bruce, and knew another guy named Bruce, both of which were gay as well. Not that it really means anything. I was reading the thread, not realizing that it was a zombie, and people kept mentioning Bruce Jenner in a context implying that he’s the epitome of masculinity. I was like :dubious: (Nothing against Jenner or transsexuals, he just seemed like an odd example.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2016, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/50 "2016-04-15T18:40:50Z")
It goes back to a really bad date between Bruce and Bohun. ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/51 "2016-04-17T13:36:07Z")
I asked my father this very question in the late 1970’s, and here is what he told me: In the past, it had been the custom that, if you were in a position where you should introduce one person to another, but you didn’t actually know the name of the person you were introducing, you would introduce them as “Bruce”. Because of this, “Bruce” became a popular name to give when you didn’t want to give your own name. At some later time (the swinging 60’s if I had to guess), there were parties where people got together to have anonymous sex. At such a party for gay men, everyone there might give their name as “Bruce”. And so the name became associated with gay men. It made enough sense to me at the time that I had no follow-up questions. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/52 "2016-04-24T23:21:20Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I heard an interview with Stan Lee in which he said he always had trouble remembering his characters’ names and that he variously referred to the Hulk as “David Banner” and “Bruce Banner,” finally settling on “David Bruce Banner.” No, he was never David in the comics. Stan loves alliteration, but sometimes even that he messed up. He started calling him BOB Banner. Then to try and explain away why this wasn’t a mistake, they decided that the character’s full name was Robert Bruce Banner. Nothing to do with David or the show. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/53 "2016-04-25T02:04:09Z")
> [@Keapon\_Laffin](#): > > See, I thought if any name would be picked, it would Gary… seeing as how most people pronounce it with the silent “r” and all that. > 😃 When I was a kid I had a friend called Bruce. His older brother was called Gary. They’re both gay. So that settles it. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/54 "2016-04-25T17:44:03Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Anyone named Lance is still gay though, right? Until **Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt** , I’d never heard this one before. And I see that your comment predates Season 2 release so I must have been out of the know. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/55 "2016-04-25T18:00:58Z")
This might be one of the most misguided or ignorant answers I will ever give but I always assumed that the name ‘Bruce’ is associated with gay men because it sounds overly masculine. That is, he is definitely a "top’ and not a ‘bottom’. It conjures up mental images of a burly gay guy, a Harley rider, with a killer 70’s mustache decked out in black leather. I never associated the name Bruce with a wispy, delicate type of gay man or even a nondescript one. He is definitely a ‘Bear’ in gay nomenclature. If I am mistaken, I am just as confused about the reasons for the association as anyone. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2016, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/56 "2016-04-25T21:52:25Z")
Yeah, the “hypermasculine = gay” trope seems to have formed in the 70s, probably out of the real phenomenon of gay men being attracted to bodybuilding as a sport, as well as all the body hair that was becoming popular then. Also leather, motorcycles, etc. I never heard of Bruce in particular being a gay name. But I have heard gay men being referred to by generic masculine names. Ween’s “Mr. Richard Smoker”, for example, has the line “Bruce and Jeff will pick you up at 10”. (I can’t tell if that song is wildly homophobic, or just satirical, but be prepared to be offended if you go listen to it.) SNL’s “Ambiguously Gay Duo” were named Ace and Gary. There are scores of other examples, but I can’t go scouring the internet right now. As offensive as they can be in hindsight, I imagine these stereotypes were created to help gay men shake off the stigma of Liberace and other less-than-manly gay men, like Paul Lynde. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/57 "2016-07-04T13:10:33Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > I just posted about this in another thread before reading your post. I’m pretty sure it’s true. I believe I saw Stan Lee say it during that extended interview he did :[Stan Lee’s Mutants, Monsters, and Marvels](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314724/). Yes, you are right: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ek2-fcGT2YA/hqdefault.jpg "Stan Lee interview 3/3") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek2-fcGT2YA) > [@](#): > > When I found out they were changing the name from “Bruce Banner” to “David Banner,” I asked the logical question “Why are you doing that? His name is supposed to be Bruce.” And some genius at the network said "Oh no Stan, Bruce makes him sound homosexual. It sounds gay. I said “There’s Bruce Jenner, the athletic decathlon champ. There’s Bruce . . . well I don’t think I knew Bruce Willis at the time but I mentioned . . . didn’t phase him . . .”] ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/58 "2016-07-04T14:23:36Z")
> [@SpyOne](#): > > I asked my father this very question in the late 1970’s, and here is what he told me: > > In the past, it had been the custom that, if you were in a position where you should introduce one person to another, but you didn’t actually know the name of the person you were introducing, you would introduce them as “Bruce”. > Because of this, “Bruce” became a popular name to give when you didn’t want to give your own name. > > At some later time (the swinging 60’s if I had to guess), there were parties where people got together to have anonymous sex. At such a party for gay men, everyone there might give their name as “Bruce”. > > And so the name became associated with gay men. > It made enough sense to me at the time that I had no follow-up questions. Hence the Monty Python sketch. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/59 "2016-07-04T14:28:39Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Hence the Monty Python sketch. The Monty Python sketch is based on the stereotype that Australians address everyone as “Bruce” and “Sheila.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169/60 "2016-07-06T00:08:01Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > You’d think Bruce Springsteen would have reinstated Bruce as a valid hetero name. Can anyone seriously claim that \he’s\ gay? Well, let’s see: - wears tight jeans - has a hanky in a back pocket - puts pictures of his ass on the cover of million-selling albums [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-bruce-considered-a-gay-name/296169.md?page=4)