"Over the past year, a curious trend has been making the rounds on TikTok: Young (and mainly Western) people are proposing marriage to like-minded individuals seeking companionship, stability, as well as shared financial burdens and benefits. Love and/or sex? Not necessary. The term "lavender marriage" resurfaced from obscurity, sparking conversations about the origins of such marriages of convenience, and whether this once covert survival tactic could be repurposed for an era seeing shifting relationship norms."
"A heteronormative front The phrase "lavender marriage" mainly gained traction in early 20th-century Hollywood, where image was paramount and being openly queer could have ended careers. The unions between a man and a woman with either one or both partners being homosexual provided a heteronormative cover so that stars and other public figures could maintain their reputations while shielding their true sexual orientation. These weren't romantic partnerships but calculated arrangements, often orchestrated by studios or agents during an era when homosexuality was criminalized or frowned upon."
A recent TikTok trend shows young Western people proposing marriage to like-minded partners for companionship, stability, and shared financial burdens and benefits without necessarily seeking love or sex. Lavender marriages originally functioned as heteronormative covers in early 20th-century Hollywood, enabling queer public figures to protect careers when homosexuality was criminalized or stigmatized. Studios and agents often orchestrated these calculated, nonromantic unions. Rock Hudson married Phyllis Gates to avoid being outed, concealed his sexual identity, and later died of an AIDS-related illness in 1985. The color and term "lavender" carry long associations with LGBTQ+ history, connecting to figures like Sappho. Contemporary conversation questions whether that tactic can be repurposed today.
Read at www.dw.com
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