April Showers bring Gay Flowers

By Mya Tran

Spring is upon us and as the world warms up again, the buds and blossoms are beginning to show their faces once more. The idea of a language of flowers is something that is not new to most of us, but were you aware that there is a secret queer language of flowers? Throughout history, flower symbolism has followed the LGBT community as ways to communicate to each other without having to come out or be outed. Here is a list of flowers with the gayest history.

Lavender

Starting in the McCarthy era, the color lavender became a symbol of queer resistance. Gaining its popularity as a queer flower after writer Carl Sandberg referred to one of Abraham Lincoln’s relationships as a “streak of lavender”, queer activists took to wearing both the color and the flower to show their pride. In the 1960s, the terms “Lavender Scare” and “Lavender Menace” became popularized. The “Lavender Scare” referred to the period of time in which many queer people were fired from their jobs for their sexuality and romantic orientations. “Lavender Menace” refers to the following protests and many of the protests that came after the Stonewall riot.

Violet

Many of us are familiar with Sappho, the poet from Ancient Greece from whom the word “sapphic” comes from. But did you know that she is the reason why violets are considered a queer flower? While only fragments of her poetry remain, many of them contain quotes about violets and other purple flowers. As time as progressed, violets joined lavender in protests and in queer pride items. In 1981, a group of queer writers named themselves “The Violet Quill”. In the 20s, violets became heavily associated with lesbians and violet sales temporarily plummeted. Many, however, did wear violets pinned to lapels in support of the showings of a sapphic play in Paris.

Pansy

Historian George Chauncey refers to the boom of queer representation and drag movements in the 1920s and 1930s as the “Pansy Craze”. “Pansy” became a term to refer to gay men in particular. Movies of the time began to bring queerness as a concept to the forefront of the national consciousness. Censorship worked hard to shut it down, but not before society had learned about the thriving queer communities around them. The “Pansy Craze” birthed much of the problematic stereotypes of queer people today. Predatory queers and other such harmful reductions became popularized, but it is noted as being one of the larger movements to force society into recognizing that there was, in fact, a queer community.

Green Carnation

The green carnation hit shelves as a queer flower after the 1890s. Famous queer writer Oscar Wilde had his friends wear green carnations on their lapels, creating a safe and subtle way to tell other men that you also liked men. Oscar Wilde’s lover, Lord Alfred Douglas, also wrote him poetry that featured many flowers, such as lavender, roses, violets, and carnations.

As spring settles in, keep your eyes out for some of these flowers, as symbols from our queer forefathers.

About the Author

Mya Tran is an incoming junior at Butler University, in Indianapolis, IN. They are currently studying English on the creative writing track and German. Growing up in a small college town with limited queer role models, Tran has spent her life with her nose in the books, looking for someone to relate to.