''Trade'' is a

gay slang LGBTQ slang, LGBTQ speak, queer slang, or LGBTQIA slang is a set of English slang lexicon used predominantly among LGBTQ people. It has been used in various languages since the early 20th century as a means by which members of the LGBTQ communit ...

term which refers to the casual partner of a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

man or to the genre of such pairings.''Fantabulosa: A Dictionary of Polari and Gay Slang''
by Paul Baker; Published by Continuum International Publishing Group, 2004; , . Men falling in the category of "trade" are not gay-identified. Historically the motivations may at times include a desire for emotional fulfillment and admiration, but the term often refers to a straight man who partners with a gay man for economic benefit, either through a direct cash payment or through other, more subtle means (gifts, tuition payments, etc.). Trade originally referred to casual sex partners, regardless of sexuality as many gay and

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

men were

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

, but evolved to imply the gay partner is comparatively wealthy and the partner who is trade is economically deprived. Examples of this include wealthy Englishmen finding partners among deprived

Cockney Cockney is a dialect of the English language, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by Londoners with working-class and lower middle class roots. The term ''Cockney'' is also used as a demonym for a person from the East End, ...

s in 1930s London. More modern usage has centered on any casual sexual encounter between men, and as an adjective to refer to any male considered masculine and/or sexually appealing. Often, the terms ''trade'' and rough trade are treated as synonymous. Often the attraction for the gay male partner is finding a dangerous, even thuggish, partner who may turn violent. That is not to say that people necessarily desire to be physically hurt, but the danger of seeking a partner in a public park, restroom, or alleyway may be exciting. Another variation is in comparison to regular trade, rough trade is more likely to be working-class laborers with less education and more physical demands of their work, therefore with a body developed naturally rather than in a gym. They may have a less polished or cleancut style than an office worker or professional businessman.

Victorian and Edwardian eras

While members of the African army and the

Coldstream Guards The Coldstream Guards is the oldest continuously serving regular regiment in the British Army. As part of the Household Division, one of its principal roles is the protection of the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarchy; due to this, it often ...

in particular have long been regarded as coming from relatively elite backgrounds, guardsmen have also had a long and celebrated reputation as sexual partners to wealthier partners. This has led to their figuring in plays by playwrights such as

Georges Feydeau Georges-Léon-Jules-Marie Feydeau (; 8 December 1862 – 5 June 1921) was a French playwright of the Belle Époque era, remembered for his farces, written between 1886 and 1914. Feydeau was born in Paris to middle-class parents and raised in a ...

and

Ferenc Molnár Ferenc Molnár ( , ; born Ferenc Neumann; January 12, 1878April 1, 1952), often anglicized as Franz Molnar, was a Hungarians, Hungarian-born author, stage director, dramatist, and poet. He is widely regarded as Hungary's most celebrated and c ...

as partners to adulterous society ladies, as well as to their performing as partners of men. The novelist

J. R. Ackerley Joe Randolph Ackerley (4 November 1896 – 4 June 1967) was a British writer and editor. Starting with the BBC the year after its founding in 1927, he was promoted to literary editor of '' The Listener,'' its weekly magazine, where he served for ...

wrote in his memoir ''My Father and Myself'' that he considered his guardsman father to have been the lover of an aristocrat for a long period of time before pursuing a wife and family, economically bettered in the end by the support he had received from his male partner.

Risks

In any relationship with rough trade, one takes a risk of becoming the object of violence. The 1975 murder of film director

Pier Paolo Pasolini Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, film director, writer, actor and playwright. He is considered one of the defining public intellectuals in 20th-century Italian history, influential both as an artist ...

has been attributed to Pasolini's dalliance with rough trade. Similar rumors circulated about the 1976 death of American actor

Sal Mineo Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film '' Rebel Without a Cause'' (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award ...

but statements from his killer cite a botched mugging and allegations otherwise are unsubstantiated. In 2005 German designer

Rudolph Moshammer Rudolph Moshammer (27 September 1940 – 14 January 2005) was a German fashion designer. He built a reputation for the extravagant clothes he designed and wore, and was well known in Germany's celebrity circuit. Moshammer was murdered in 2005 i ...

was killed by a 25-year-old Iraqi asylum-seeker with whom he had had sex but allegedly refused to pay for it. The writer

James Pope-Hennessy James Pope Hennessy CVO (20 November 1916 – 25 January 1974) was a British biographer and travel writer. Early life Richard James Arthur Pope-Hennessy was born in London on 20 November 1916, the younger son of Ladislaus Herbert Richard Pop ...

was killed in 1974, but the convictions were reduced to manslaughter as he choked on his own blood. Accusations of rough trade have been used as a form of

victim blaming Victim blaming occurs when the victim of a crime or any wrongful act is held entirely or partially at fault for the harm that befell them. There is historical and current prejudice against the victims of domestic violence and sex crimes, such as ...

. Notably, the murder of

Matthew Shepard Matthew Wayne Shepard (December 1, 1976 – October 12, 1998) was an American student at the University of Wyoming who was beaten, tortured, and left to die near Laramie on October 6, 1998. He was transported by rescuers to Poudre Valle ...

, which sparked hate crime legislation in 2009, was described by

Camille Paglia Camille Anna Paglia ( ; born April 2, 1947) is an American academic, social critic and Feminism, feminist. Paglia was a professor at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia), University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1984 until ...

as trade-related. Even within the gay press, journalists have sometimes avoided covering violent incidents because of accusations that the victim was pursuing rough trade.

References

{{Sexual slang Casual sex Class discrimination Gay working-class culture Gay slang Social classes

Victorian and Edwardian eras

Risks

See also

References