Download QueerWordPlay here

QUEERWORDPLAY is a living document on forms of communication used by LGBTQAI+ people, including languages, dialects, slang, coded gestures, and the semantics of cruising. These entries represent systems of “wordplay,” developed around the world and through time that have enabled parallel and covert communication for self-selected communities that don’t wish to be perceived by mainstream publics or the heteronormative dominant society.

This document is not intended to be a comprehensive guide, a timeline, nor an index. By featuring these entries in a graphic form, we seek to be anti-taxonomic, to establish possible solidarities, and to perceive connections between queers separated by geography and time. The descriptions draw from publicly available sources and have been left intentionally vague, affirming the secretive and coded nature of the entries, which pertain to sexual and gender minorities.

This publication was edited by Justin Linds, Gervais Marsh, and Carlos Motta and was produced in the context of Carlos Motta’s Artist Impact Initiative x Creative Time R&D Fellowship (2024). Design by Riley Hooker