Earring In The Right Ear = Homosexual, Right?

Believe it or not, I was watching an episode of "Beavis and Butt-head" of all things. The boys decided to pierce their ears themselves. Trouble was, they pierced the right side instead of the left side. A woman whispers to them about the problem. Then they freak out.\ \ This leads me to believe that it must have signified homosexuality at one time. Am I right? Just like the handkerchief in the back pocket thing, or something. Not sure.\ \ Thanks for any info!

I always thought it was left ear = gay.\ \ But then, if you''re gay, left = passive and right = active, so ... that would kind of make it hard to tell anyway.
Back in the early 80s, I remember hearing\ the anti-homo phrase uttered about which side\ to get pierced, "Left is right and Right is wrong."\ \ Part of the conditioning I had to overcome in\ order to come out.\ \ Fun, huh?
sheesh!
There was something like that in the eighties or even seventies but, I really can''t remember which way round it was.
If you ask me it has nothing to do with actual gay culture. I think it was made up straight teens in the late 70''s & 80''s as a way to torture gay teens. That is why it made it on to Beavis & Butthead.
Actually, R2, I believe it''s the other way around.
R5? How could it have been the other way around?\ \ "Right is right and Left is wrong?" where''s the memorable twist in that?\ \ If the custom was the opposite, so be it.\ \ All I''m saying is how I remember the phrase going....
sheesh!
No, right ear meant you were gay. I have a freckle where my younger brother stabbed me with a fork. Bullies in high school always asked me if my earring had fallen out.\ \ For punk day I pierced my left ear with a safety pin.
In the UK it was always right side = homo.%0D\ %0D\ This does not apply now. You could wear several rings in your right ear and nobody would think it homo anymore. It was a very 80''s thing.
In the mid-late 90''s when EVERYBODY was doing it (just before the tattoo craze) right ear was def. gay. Left ear was straight.
I don''t think there is a definitive answer to the ear question - there was always much confusion over which side.%0D\ %0D\ And, when I was in my late teens an earring in either ear for a guy was deemed gay.%0D\ %0D\ The hanky business never really took off in the UK although I vaguely remember a fad for tiny teddy-bears in the back pocket of jeans to signify whether you were a cuddler or cuddlee. That one last all of a couple of months too.
In the early 90s, it was definitely right side = gay. I have the hole in my right ear to prove it.
Aww let''s revive the teddy bear fad. R10, what kind of a teddy bear do I get if I''m a cuddlee?
Ciaran
The way I heard it, back in the pre-Stonewall era, a gay man would pierce his right ear so that if he was pulled over by police while driving, he would look "normal" and not face additional discrimination. Probably just another urban legend, but you asked.
Guys today pierce both ears, so is that an insurance policy?
Pierce ears were at their zenith in the early 90s, but seem to be passe now. You don''t see them nearly so much, with either gay or straight men.
Actually, it was one way on the west coast and the another way on the east (''70s and ''80s). To make it even more confusing, in Chicano culture one side meant that the first girl you had sex with was over 14 and the other side meant under 14. Yeh, this lead to some unpleasantness.
R10 is right, but back then one thing was clear: Both ears meant gay.
George Michael
I also remember the "Left is right, right is wrong" mantra from the 80s.
I work with a bunch of middle aged straight lawyers. Several of them have scars or old earing holes that never closed over on their right ears.
Only if you unclip it with a purposeful snap before answering the phone.
Right ear was bottom, left ear was top. One earring in either ear was gay, both ears was straight.%0D\ Half these posts are Francis trying to confuse the issue.%0D
From wikipedia:\ \ In various Western cultures, piercing the left vs. the right ear has sometimes been popularly perceived to be associated with a particular sexual orientation. In the 80s it was said that "left is right, and right is wrong,"[2] alluding to social prejudices surrounding sexual orientation. The left ear was reserved for piercing by straight men and a pierced right ear signified that one was gay. It is similarly held that among homosexual men, an earring in the left ear signifies a dominant partner or "top" and the right a submissive one or "bottom"But in the mark of the 21st century earrings in both ears have changed from a person being niether gay or Stright, but as for fashion or beuaty.[3]
I want to get both my ears pierced.
Geez, what''s next, what color is your kerchief and which rear pocket do you wear it?
I remember seeing the episode you mention, OP, and even back then the notion of having the "wrong" ear pierced seemed very out of date. While I heard "left is right" in the 80s, I didn''t hear it much in the 1990s even though piercing was very big at the time.
When I got my ear pierced when I was 16, in the early 90s, I got my left ear pierced. When I came out as gay at 21, I got my right ear pierced. I haven''t worn earrings for a good 13 years now.
I'm a 33 year old straight man and got my left ear pierced when I was about 20. Anymore I seem to notice a lot of guys of both orientations sporting earrings in what's traditionally the opposite ear for their stated sexual preference. I guess the single ear piercing doesnt signify anything anymore?
So an earing in both ears means Bi?
years ago (80's) i heard the "right is wrong" thing - was (and still am) always hoping to see guys with just their right ear pierced...
I was in high school in a Chicago suburb in the mid-80s. It was definitely earring in the right ear if you were gay. My gay cousin was at that time de facto married to a flaming guy, and they lived in a very gay part of the city. The husband had his right ear pierced. My best friend, a straight guy from suburban Boston, had an earring in his left ear in college. Still does, actually.
Yep - right side was always the gay side. I went all out as a youngster - both sides were pierced, with multiples on my left side.
LuciferTheLightBringer
left was straight, right was gay in the early 80s. was true in both california and the south
Actually East Coast was left ear straight never Right that was gay. That goes for the south too . West coast was the opposite left was gay like to the left west coast was mostly gay. Right was straight. I have small gorgeous boys and had to do both. because we're from South Florida only left ears for little boys . Moved to Cali when they were 3 and 5 Stigma of gay. Explain that to your babies why they have to get the other one done!
Jacks0074
In the 70s, it was right ear was gay. By the 90s it got all confused because black rappers were piercing both ears. The hankie in the back pocket never took off because those dizzy queens couldn't remember if left was aggressive and right was passive or the other way around. Plus you needed a wallet card to remember what all the different colors meant. Why don't we all just wear Little Orphan Annie Secret Decoder rings?
my prince albert hangs to the right
Back in the 70s and 80s,pre-internet, it was hard to get the word out and get everyone following the right road map. And that goes for those different colored hankerchiefs in the back pocket. You'd be in New Orleans with your red hanky on your right side on vacation from Chicago, and suddenly guys would be coming onto you at the bar wanting you to fuck them (or was it the other way around. Whatever.) Anyway, it was very confusing if you went out of state, and the same confusion followed the pierced ear thing.
VillagePeopleWereAWESOME MAN!
Today,guys wearing plaid shirts, is the same as a right earring.
No matter the ear, an earring= trash.