Gay and lesbian society in the pre-war years was within, but not of, mainstream culture. As Havelock Ellis noted in "Sexual Inversion," it was a community with words, customs, and traditions of its own. Codes adopted by gay men allowed them to communicate freely with each other even in the presence of people who were potentially hostile. The word "gay," for example, originally referred generally to immoral pleasures, but came to be used extensively by more effeminate men (known as "fairies") in the 1920s and '30s. Less visible gay men picked up on the term and used it discreetly amongst themselves. It wasn't until the 1940s and '50s that the wider world picked up on the meaning. Wearing clothing such as a red necktie, or references to "letting one's hair down" (or even just to hairpins) were among other markers that gay men adopted. These codes are recorded in the letters and diaries of older gay men and the records of police officers whose job it was to infiltrate gay society. Less is known about women's public codes.

Sources: Katz, Chauncey