The 1964 legislative report Homosexuality and Citizenship in Florida contains an extensive appendix documenting and defining the homosexual slang in the United States at that time. Although there are differences, contemporary British gay slang has adopted many Polari words. ĭuring the first seven decades of the 20th century, a specific form of Polari was developed by gay men and lesbians in urban centres of the United Kingdom within established LGBT communities.

Since the advent of queer studies in universities, LGBT slang and argot has become a subject of academic research among linguistic anthropology scholars. 10 Terms describing asexuality or aromanticityīecause of sodomy laws and threat of prosecution due to the criminalization of homosexuality, LGBT slang has served as an argot or cant, a secret language and a way for the LGBT community to communicate with each other publicly without revealing their sexual orientation to others.9 Terms describing cisgender or heterosexual people.8 Terms related to transgender and non-binary people.7 Terms describing transgender and non-binary people.