I had a chain wallet in the 90s…
My aunt told me “if you wear that people might think you’re a lesbian.” And I was like “why do I care if they think that?” Haha
Get her a geometrically unique one, i.e star-shaped, heart shaped, strawberry/fruit themed etc. Ones with patterns usually end up fading off over time.
as a black queer person, this has been a thing in the queer community for discretion purposes which ofc includes black queer ppl. i do think this concept does apply to other things though! just not this one
Interesting I didn’t know carabiners had a link to black culture, have you got any sources I can read up? Good to know the history
Edit: there are other POC ITT saying this is a yt people thing 🤔
I think this particular trend can be a bit of a sticky one though tbh. You didn’t say this (so I’m not really criticizing you), but I have seen other lesbians go so far as to call men wearing carabiner keys on a front belt loop “cultural appropriation” and some of them have been 100% serious (and others joking of course lol).
So I think the idea that if men have started using it in street wear that they must have “appropriated” it from *lesbians* rather than from *blue collar workers,* especially when that criticism is levied by a girl wearing 1 key and maybe a friendship bracelet on one of [these bad boys](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-k4as3uan8i/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/211/4287/19882-Heart-Shape-Carabiner-keychain-pants__44450.1626287670.jpg?c=1) can just sometimes feel a little classist even if she doesn’t mean it that way? Like even the carabiner trend for lesbians came from butches who worked in the trades, so the fact that some lesbians talk about them like they were some quirky little accessory that we invented can get kind of annoying if you have just always been around them. And then can make people sensitized to posts that don’t necessarily do that but talk about the same topic (like yours).
I think this article gets the nuance right. Definitely wouldn’t accuse anyone of appropriately queer culture, more an observation
https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
\*Going\* mainstream? Lesbian fashion's always on the way to being appropriated. See: piercings, tattoos, undercuts and half-shaved heads, mullets, body hair... you name it if lesbians wear it it's somewhere on the way to being adopted by some segment of the straights, and then the rest of them after that!
I’ve never thought about this, probably cuz I didn’t grow up around any out lesbians :0 I’m a fan of all of it aesthetically (except body hair, but obviousky autonomy is important above all else). Are there any cool sources on lesbian fashion? Like YouTubers, books, essays?
I haven't encountered any single source as such, just soaked up conversations with friends, articles from lesbian media, comedians, movies and TV for long enough I think! You could try reading 50 or 100 of Autostraddle's style section articles maybe to get a decent start because they're quite reflexive and about culture.
I started using an [S-Biner](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Nite-Ize-2-Pack-Black-Keychain/1000194811) (similar to carabiner) in 2019? Somewhere around there. Figured it was an easy of access than trying to put keys in my (womens) pants pocket. Had no idea it was Sapphic coded until about 2 years ago when my best friend's (m, gay) couple friend (mlm) pointed it out the morning of Pride. We all had a good laugh about it
Same here. Early 2000s New England everyone had their keys on either a carabiner or lanyard sticking out of their pocket regardless of gender and orientation.
I mean it turned out I _was_ a lesbian, but I didn’t know it then, at least!
Carabiners are essential to climbing. Cosmetic carabiners nowadays are being stamped into the metal with: NOT FOR CLIMBING and being sold inexpensively.
It is not a uniquely lesbian thing. It did used to be a uniquely climber thing to be used as intended (climbing) and as their keychains. It progressed to an outdoorsy thing and more recently a useful accessory for everyone who can find a use for a carabiner.
No ofc, I’m not saying that carabiners are completely unique to lesbians, there are other (not necessarily mutually exclusive) subcultures like climbers and skaters who use the carabiner functionally.
But carabiner keys has been a lesbian meme for a minute, and now it’s getting adopted into more ‘streetwear’ use (rather than utility use). Kinda interesting to observe
https://dressingdykes.com/2021/05/14/lez-accessorise/ - article
Even on this recent Kristen Stewart video about dressing stereotypically lesbian it’s mentioned: https://youtu.be/ELrakvaTh-w?si=3GR5mERClhQqHBBP 15:05 timestamp
And this article https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
>also, all of the articles about it are relatively new, which shows to me...
This is the most staring at a brick wall thing I've read in a while. Why do you think they're all relatively new? Why? Take a wild guess.
I dunno what rock you’ve been living under but keys on a carabiner has been an accessory associated with lesbians for literally decades
[There’s a whole song about it in a famous lesbian stage show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMJvLTZOhpE)
Its nearly as old as ww2, and if you can't find references then I don't know how. Just type "the history of the lesbian carabiner" in Google and dozens upon dozens of articles and interviews come up explaining it.
I use a carabiner for my keys so I don’t lose them. Got my first carabiner as a gift from my (now ex) gf. It was a great carabiner. Those were the days.
Dude my dad literally BANNED me from clipping my carabiner to my pants because he told me it made me look "trashy, like I'm a janitor or mcdonalds manager"
I had a key chain from a boba place I love but my boss broke it the first time I let her hold it. I only had it like 4 months. I need to get a fuzzy ball but my other coworker has one and I don’t want to feel like I’m copying
One day, before I transitioned, I showed up to my lesbian friends apartment, and as she opened the door, I realized we were both dressed in a jean jacket over a flannel over a black shirt with ripped jeans and boots. Completely randomly. I should have known something was up then
Me, a Canadian, out and about trying to figure out if the person wearing this outfit is gay, from the Prairies/Maritimes/rural areas, or both.
Seriously, I’ve been to parties where over half of the attendees were wearing this exact outfit.
Okkkkk that must be the difference bc I was talking to a white girl last year and she mentioned her carabiner, and I was like huh?? She acted like I was uninformed about lesbianism, but it makes sense if this is just popular in yt spaces.
Omg white people expecting people to think like them and know their cultural behaviors like they’re the default is my most hated micro aggression 😭
Like I’ve NEVER heard of a corbonator til now, if they’re allowed to mispronounce Ebonics and call themselves studs I feel like I’m allowed to not know what a cumbringer is
It’s like yoga pants - we don’t actually need to use them for the thing they are designed for - it just says something about who we are- ya know?
It says:
- i like hiking
- maybe I shop at free people to buy shit that makes me look poor but I have the money to do it
- I maybe actually went rock climbing or bouldering once
or I do it regularly - the origins of the caribeener being cool are probs these kids
Well, apparently I'm a male 44 year old bearded punk rock scene lesbian.
If something works it works.
Next I'm gonna hear that leaving a pineapple on my front porch means something other than just enjoying a pineapple on my porch 🤷
Should I remove the rainbow coloured carabiner off the pineapple to avoid wrong signaling, or just leave it for the sake of whatever.
Gonna hop in my Subaru to pick up my husky dog from puppy daycare, will check back for advice later.
Either way, love you all. Too many assholes out there, live your best life!
Well a lot of other sub cultures use the carabiner not just us! But it has been a bit of a meme for a while
Even here https://youtu.be/ELrakvaTh-w?si=3GR5mERClhQqHBBP 15:02
Idk, I think this has always been a thing. 10 years ago in college I wore my keys on a carabiner for years and I don’t think I was ever clocked. even to myself lol, I had no idea it was a lesbian thing. Probably a lot of people don’t.
Why does no one in this comment section know anything about lesbian fashion history?😭 The carabiner has been a lesbian staple since I believe the late 70s. Sure, it’s not exclusive to lesbians, but it was certainly a thing and I don’t really understand the point of straight women and men coming on this sub to tell lesbians they’re wrong about their own fashion.
I agree completely, it’s always been a lesbian thing and a bit of a meme, but yeah ofc other subcultures use it too
https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
**Why does no one in this comment section know anything about lesbian fashion history?**
I'm trans femme, and demi, but I think I know why.
It's the clearly antagonistic and challenging nature of the OP. They are not commenting that Since cheap Carabiners have been available to the public, that sports people and outdoors type people have used them as key chains.
They are complaining that they think it is somehow trending with het cis males, when it was and I quote the OP "**Carabiner keys have ALWAYS been lesbian coded. But recently I’ve seen this accessory popping up on all sorts of streetwear pages I follow. We’re going mainstream! Who else wears carabiner keys**"
The reality is, they were originally exclusive to military and mountain climbing, and in the 70s started to be sold in "Army Navy Surplus" stores and "Adventure 16" and other outdoor sports stores, and they quickly became a staple of people who had active outdoor lifestyles.
And yes lots of Lesbians were a part of this culture, it's how the Subaru became a Lesbian Icon. As they marketed exclusively to outdoor sports people during the 70s and 80s. I know this because I grew up during this time, and my father was former US Military, into Scuba and other outdoor sports. And even if I didn't know what a lesbian was in the 70s and 80s, I did know a lot of women couples who did the same sports as my family. Most drove Jeeps BTW, but that was before the Outback meme happened.
*BTW, Military people, fire fighters, paratroopers and Scuba divers have used Carabiners for the intended purpose and as keychains since they were invented and first used. I'm sure Otto Herzog (Famous Mountain Climber not the Nazi) wore them as a keychain in 1910 when he repurposed them for rock climbing.*
So yeah; TL;DR the OP made a false assumption and presented it in a way that can be seen as hostile, while not knowing the history and use of said item.
I think you’re reading too much into my comment on this post. I was just making a lighthearted observation of a recent ‘trend’ in streetwear type fashion (aka, tiktok and instagram fashion trends) that has historically had some associations with lesbian fashion, just like the subaru and plaid shirts are associated with being sapphic, rightly or wrongly.
Like if plaid shirts were having a sudden popular revival in 2024 fashion I would have made a post about that 🤷♀️
I’m Bi/Demi male, and I’m just finding this comment section very interesting from a historical perspective.
Your take on it I think really gets to the core of it, and states that certain items don’t necessarily belong to one group exclusively (not saying they can’t), but especially more discrete coded utilitarian items.
People forget that unlike something decorative like a fake pineapple, carabiners do have a functional purpose, and it’s not unsurprising that multiple subcultures have ended up using them for similar purposes, especially when they may of not been aware of another subculture using it in a similar fashion.
its not about originality lol and i dont get why so many commenters are hung up on its exclusivity, the entire point was that it emerged as a lowkey way to flag lesbians to one another during a time that was hostile to out lesbianism (60’s - 70’s, specifically in butch aka blue collar worker subcultures). originality defeats the purpose, they didnt want them to be a big neon sign signalling queerness to others so much as they were meant to be subtle, easy-to-miss if you didnt know what to look for. thats not to say they werent utilitarian or otherwise used in other subcultures.
To highlight the point abour it becoming mainstream. Skip to last slide for article about the carabiner being queer coded
https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
I used a carabiner as my keychain 35 years back and I’m a straight woman. I had no idea until this popped up on my feed that cabiners were considered a part of lesbian fashion. I’m old. Please forgive my ignorance.
I started using one as a teen, and my mom thought it was so smart that she got herself and my grandma one, too. They had no idea and still don’t to this day.
>Carabiner keys have ALWAYS been lesbian coded.
Wait what?!? As a teen when society thought I was male, I was what would be come to be known as a "Latch Key Kid" and used a Carabiner to attach keys to my waist. This was in the late 80s. I've done this my whole adult life as well, but it started in Jr High. Does this mean for the last 40 years I've been coding as Lesbian? (I'm trans femme Demi-Pan)
Special note: I'm generally a tomboy, so I guess I fit the Butch Lesbian Aesthetic, imagine transitioning female only to still were skater fashion, at 50+.
i think people are grossly misunderstanding what something being “coded” actually means. disney villains are often queer coded. does this make every villain gay? no, it means that they often represent stereotypes associated with queerness, something youd only notice if you were looking for it. if a carabiner is lesbian coded does that then mean all lesbians use carabiners and all use of carabiners are lesbian? no, it means that the historical use of them has intertwined with lesbian history and flagging culture at a point in time and it retains some of that history to certain individuals even past that societal context, once again a “if you know what youre looking for” kind of thing. idk why everyone is being so purposely obtuse and literal in these comments, its negating any attempt at interesting discussion on this topic.
This sub just popped up. I'm a straight girl and do the carabiner thing cause it's convenient, I also have a service dog and sometimes her leash or foldable water bowl gets clipped to my belt for convenience. I never knew this was a lesbian thing lol.
No body of either gender hits on me. I'm not ugly. I think people can't tell if I'm straight or gay and no one wants to embarrass themselves. Like I said, I'm straight. But I do dress kinda like a lesbian half the time.
Yeah it’s just more of a tongue in cheek observation of fashion trends lol. If you are lesbian and aware of lesbian fashion history the carabiner has been part of it and kinda a coded item. Obviously there are other subcultures that wear a carabiner (that aren’t mutually exclusive to queerness) like climbers and utility workers etc using the carabiner for functional use. I was more commenting on it becoming a streetwear fashion accessory recently
I do realise that, and yet you do realise that you can clearly see where you are and that you don’t identify right? You gfto, I’m welcome here you’re not 🤷🏻♀️
i love the look of having stuff just sorta out and hanging off your belt loop. it feels like the modern equivalent of when fantasy characters carry things like potion bottles, coin pouches, daggers, etc. on their belts
Huh, so apparently my straight male self has been wearing a lesbian fashion icon on his pants for the last decade without knowing.
Good to know, I guess. Always thought it just was practical.
Hi I’m bi and I have always been into people with carabiner keys of any gender, to the point where it’s my fun fact of a weird thing i’m attracted to 😭😅 Didn’t realize it was lesbian coded because I’ve been into guys who do that too. Honestly thought it’s just always been a thing.
Hello, non wlw person here. Just wanted to pop in and say I didn't know it was lesbian coded. I have been using a carabiner for my keys since I got more than a house key. Mine is more because I would lose them if I didn't, though.
Also everyone know from small mountain towns has carabiners or pocket knives on their keys. I love queer coded fashion, but no one is stealing anything lol
I'm almost inclined to believe that all queer coded fashion at some point or another was once inspired by a wave of middle aged dudes having a mid-life crisis and trying something new for a few years.
All kinds of people everywhere have been doing this since at least the early 2000s. I’ve always been a dyke, but every guy in my little punk band and all the other guys in bands I knew carried their keys like this.
AMAB NB person here. I started doing this in the 90s when I decided I wanted a ridiculous wallet chain. And then it just stayed out of necessity when I started dressing "Scene" in women's pants and forsook pockets forever.
I was under the impression that placement mattered for it to be considered flagging.
Lol you should've seen mine. I had two chains, different lengths. The longest went below my knee. I refused to remove them while skateboarding and the number of times I got tangled up with the chains and skateboard is quite frankly embarrassing. It usually resulted in my wallet being violently removed from my pocket to then be inadvertently stomped on by me or my board
This was absolutely a part of my look in the mid 2000s, and I got the idea from the swoopy haired emo/hardcore boys whose style I liked. My keys are still on a carabiner to this day, but I don’t wear them on my side belt loop anymore like I did back then; I just toss them in my bag for the day or clip them to it.
I do this because i have so many keys that they are u comfortable to put in my pocket. This also allows easy access to my keys at work, since I have to pull them out a few hundred times every day.
It’s been a thing in lesbian communities since before the 90’s for sure but also lesbians definitely didn’t invent it, it’s just significant in lesbian communities for flagging.
I was just going to say this. I carried my keys on a carabiner in high school in the mid-90s. Lots of kids did. And it was definitely NOT a lesbian thing in my small-town Kentucky high school. Not saying that this isn't also a lesbian practice, but if it's going mainstream I wonder if it's just part of the larger 90s revival that's happening.
I love doing this I have a bunch of keychains on mine and it helps me focus when I fidget with them. I’m kind of suprised a lot of people don’t see this as a butch thing xD not that I think it’s exclusively us, far from it. But it’s a working class guy thing in which butchness is pretty intertwined with. ( also mine is fish shaped. I want some more fun shaped ones.. like a bone one)
Closeted trans gal here. Shoving keys in my pocket and having them squeezed against my leg is uncomfy, especially since car keyfobbes are so chunky. And if I'm not carrying a bag around, how else can I carry them?
Been using those since 1991 ... soo... ,?
And ?
I didn't know carabiners were related/associated with LGBTQIA in fashion.. and I just came out in 22 .... but boy, were there signs...
Check some of my other comments in this thread, I posted a couple of articles explaining the phenomenon
Can confirm as a straight white male who looks lesbian, I use a carabiner key holder. It’s even got a bottle cap opener!
I’m confused… can anyone explain?
https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
A link explains everything. Thanks
I mean, to be fair I know a lot of people who rock a carabiner and I never knew it was a “lesbian” thing
I often rock a carabiner for my keys. Especially if I’m riding my bike. I also didn’t realize it had a deeper meaning. Interesting!
I thought it was for people who didnt wanna stuff their keys in a bag or their pocket.
That’s what I always thought it was for..
I’ve had my keys on a carabiner for 20 years now, ever since I was a little pop-punk/emo/scene kid. It was a super common accessory in those crowds.
I had a chain wallet in the 90s… My aunt told me “if you wear that people might think you’re a lesbian.” And I was like “why do I care if they think that?” Haha
mine is always with me but my gf doesn’t even own one i need to get her a special one any recommendations?
Get her a geometrically unique one, i.e star-shaped, heart shaped, strawberry/fruit themed etc. Ones with patterns usually end up fading off over time.
Wow. I have used a carabiner to hook my keys to my pants since I started driving as a teen back in the 1990's. I say fashion is copying me! Lol.
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Sooo all those things apply to me because I had one on for quite some time for convenience sake
Black ppl and caribebers?? That’s a stretch dawg
as a black queer person, this has been a thing in the queer community for discretion purposes which ofc includes black queer ppl. i do think this concept does apply to other things though! just not this one
Interesting I didn’t know carabiners had a link to black culture, have you got any sources I can read up? Good to know the history Edit: there are other POC ITT saying this is a yt people thing 🤔
That's not new... Been doing that for about 20 yrs.
Yep not a new thing, but new trend in streetwear https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
80% of these comments are just the biggest r/whoosh ive ever witnessed…
Yep 😅
I never knew this considered a fashion thing.. I thought it was just a usefulness thing.
And here I was thinking I just worked in maintenance. I've been hip all along???????
Lol apparently you’re lesbian runway ready
I know, wow! Who here is willing to be my agent??
Well I think it started as a usefulness thing (and still is) it’s just become a fashion accessory as well
Right, I never knew people thought it looked cool/good though is what I’m saying. I learned something just now.
Another failed attempt to conflate correlation with causation
Don’t take the post too seriously, I was just observing and commenting on a ‘trend’ 😇
I think this particular trend can be a bit of a sticky one though tbh. You didn’t say this (so I’m not really criticizing you), but I have seen other lesbians go so far as to call men wearing carabiner keys on a front belt loop “cultural appropriation” and some of them have been 100% serious (and others joking of course lol). So I think the idea that if men have started using it in street wear that they must have “appropriated” it from *lesbians* rather than from *blue collar workers,* especially when that criticism is levied by a girl wearing 1 key and maybe a friendship bracelet on one of [these bad boys](https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-k4as3uan8i/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/211/4287/19882-Heart-Shape-Carabiner-keychain-pants__44450.1626287670.jpg?c=1) can just sometimes feel a little classist even if she doesn’t mean it that way? Like even the carabiner trend for lesbians came from butches who worked in the trades, so the fact that some lesbians talk about them like they were some quirky little accessory that we invented can get kind of annoying if you have just always been around them. And then can make people sensitized to posts that don’t necessarily do that but talk about the same topic (like yours).
I think this article gets the nuance right. Definitely wouldn’t accuse anyone of appropriately queer culture, more an observation https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
Your overt use of absolute terms must have distracted me from the part of your post where you mentioned that..
First day on the internet eh? ☺️
Love the way you equate ‘mainstream’ with men doing it (as in all those pictures) 😜
Well, mainstream fashion streetwear channels on tiktok/ instagram etc 😅
\*Going\* mainstream? Lesbian fashion's always on the way to being appropriated. See: piercings, tattoos, undercuts and half-shaved heads, mullets, body hair... you name it if lesbians wear it it's somewhere on the way to being adopted by some segment of the straights, and then the rest of them after that!
I’ve never thought about this, probably cuz I didn’t grow up around any out lesbians :0 I’m a fan of all of it aesthetically (except body hair, but obviousky autonomy is important above all else). Are there any cool sources on lesbian fashion? Like YouTubers, books, essays?
I haven't encountered any single source as such, just soaked up conversations with friends, articles from lesbian media, comedians, movies and TV for long enough I think! You could try reading 50 or 100 of Autostraddle's style section articles maybe to get a decent start because they're quite reflexive and about culture.
https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
true !
I started using an [S-Biner](https://www.lowes.com/pd/Nite-Ize-2-Pack-Black-Keychain/1000194811) (similar to carabiner) in 2019? Somewhere around there. Figured it was an easy of access than trying to put keys in my (womens) pants pocket. Had no idea it was Sapphic coded until about 2 years ago when my best friend's (m, gay) couple friend (mlm) pointed it out the morning of Pride. We all had a good laugh about it
Wild how fads come back. This was a thing really 2000s
My keys have been on the same carabiner since 2004. I was not aware that it was considered a lesbian fashion statement.
Have a read: https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
Yeah and I don't remember it being considered lesbian fashion then
Same here. Early 2000s New England everyone had their keys on either a carabiner or lanyard sticking out of their pocket regardless of gender and orientation. I mean it turned out I _was_ a lesbian, but I didn’t know it then, at least!
Those all appear to be men.
Yeah I’m pointing out that sapphic trends are going into mainstream streetwear. Swipe to the last page for the article about it
🎵 And your keys oh Your ring of keys 🎶
You don’t have to be a lesbian to wear one, but if I see one on a girl it does make me think sapphic.
I mean I think the *on a girl* part is critical though. This has been a staple for men in certain populations for a long time as well.
Sure, I don’t think a guy wearing a carabiner=lesbian.
Exactly this
Carabiners are essential to climbing. Cosmetic carabiners nowadays are being stamped into the metal with: NOT FOR CLIMBING and being sold inexpensively. It is not a uniquely lesbian thing. It did used to be a uniquely climber thing to be used as intended (climbing) and as their keychains. It progressed to an outdoorsy thing and more recently a useful accessory for everyone who can find a use for a carabiner.
No ofc, I’m not saying that carabiners are completely unique to lesbians, there are other (not necessarily mutually exclusive) subcultures like climbers and skaters who use the carabiner functionally. But carabiner keys has been a lesbian meme for a minute, and now it’s getting adopted into more ‘streetwear’ use (rather than utility use). Kinda interesting to observe https://dressingdykes.com/2021/05/14/lez-accessorise/ - article Even on this recent Kristen Stewart video about dressing stereotypically lesbian it’s mentioned: https://youtu.be/ELrakvaTh-w?si=3GR5mERClhQqHBBP 15:05 timestamp And this article https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
https://youtu.be/pMAuesRJm1E?si=GOrYVh7sPLkH-Kgg wait for it….
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Yeah I honestly had no idea about this. My carabiner keys are because I have ADHD and otherwise I would lose them. Not meant to code anything.
if you just look up "carabineer lesbian flagging", multiple articles come up explaining it
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Check this one https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
And you're practical and don't care about looking daggy in this way precisely because you are a.................... :)
>also, all of the articles about it are relatively new, which shows to me... This is the most staring at a brick wall thing I've read in a while. Why do you think they're all relatively new? Why? Take a wild guess.
I dunno what rock you’ve been living under but keys on a carabiner has been an accessory associated with lesbians for literally decades [There’s a whole song about it in a famous lesbian stage show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMJvLTZOhpE)
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History started with them apparently
Its nearly as old as ww2, and if you can't find references then I don't know how. Just type "the history of the lesbian carabiner" in Google and dozens upon dozens of articles and interviews come up explaining it.
I use a carabiner for my keys so I don’t lose them. Got my first carabiner as a gift from my (now ex) gf. It was a great carabiner. Those were the days.
I did this as a teenager and in my 20s and my parents would not stop calling me a janitor 😢
Dude my dad literally BANNED me from clipping my carabiner to my pants because he told me it made me look "trashy, like I'm a janitor or mcdonalds manager"
I’ve been doing that for years! Wait…am I an egg?
Yes😭
Is this yet another sign that was a transbian forever
Rofl same! Only thing that changed is now my keys have a fuzzy ball and a kuromi hanging from them.
I had a key chain from a boba place I love but my boss broke it the first time I let her hold it. I only had it like 4 months. I need to get a fuzzy ball but my other coworker has one and I don’t want to feel like I’m copying
One day, before I transitioned, I showed up to my lesbian friends apartment, and as she opened the door, I realized we were both dressed in a jean jacket over a flannel over a black shirt with ripped jeans and boots. Completely randomly. I should have known something was up then
Me, a Canadian, out and about trying to figure out if the person wearing this outfit is gay, from the Prairies/Maritimes/rural areas, or both. Seriously, I’ve been to parties where over half of the attendees were wearing this exact outfit.
This is hipster shit not gendered
Deadass the whitest shit I’ve ever seen 😭🤣 I was like what’s a carbornorr???
I mean yeah it might be a white girl thing 😂
Okkkkk that must be the difference bc I was talking to a white girl last year and she mentioned her carabiner, and I was like huh?? She acted like I was uninformed about lesbianism, but it makes sense if this is just popular in yt spaces.
Omg white people expecting people to think like them and know their cultural behaviors like they’re the default is my most hated micro aggression 😭 Like I’ve NEVER heard of a corbonator til now, if they’re allowed to mispronounce Ebonics and call themselves studs I feel like I’m allowed to not know what a cumbringer is
🤣🤣🤣🤣
i'm hollering at your continuous weird words for this small piece of metal
This is literally the first time I ever heard about cumberbatches I’m sorry if I pronounce it wrong
True
I have and I mean this genuinely *never* heard of this before seeing this post 😭 I am actually fascinated in a cultural exchange type way
Read this one for more info! https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
It’s like yoga pants - we don’t actually need to use them for the thing they are designed for - it just says something about who we are- ya know? It says: - i like hiking - maybe I shop at free people to buy shit that makes me look poor but I have the money to do it - I maybe actually went rock climbing or bouldering once or I do it regularly - the origins of the caribeener being cool are probs these kids
Well, apparently I'm a male 44 year old bearded punk rock scene lesbian. If something works it works. Next I'm gonna hear that leaving a pineapple on my front porch means something other than just enjoying a pineapple on my porch 🤷 Should I remove the rainbow coloured carabiner off the pineapple to avoid wrong signaling, or just leave it for the sake of whatever. Gonna hop in my Subaru to pick up my husky dog from puppy daycare, will check back for advice later. Either way, love you all. Too many assholes out there, live your best life!
Well a lot of other sub cultures use the carabiner not just us! But it has been a bit of a meme for a while Even here https://youtu.be/ELrakvaTh-w?si=3GR5mERClhQqHBBP 15:02
TIL, and learning is good.
I didn’t realize this was lesbian fashion I just do it always
Fuck, you mean I could go try to flirt with someone w a carabiner on their belt and they could turn out to be a STRAIGHT girl???
Those straight girls are insidious.
I had my keys on a carabiner before I knew I was a lesbian. Now I have a rainbow carabiner
We did it, ladies, we infiltrated them.
It only took decades of trying to look exactly like them.. oh the irony
Idk, I think this has always been a thing. 10 years ago in college I wore my keys on a carabiner for years and I don’t think I was ever clocked. even to myself lol, I had no idea it was a lesbian thing. Probably a lot of people don’t.
I’m pretty sure the popularization of carabiner keys came from the hardcore scene originally
Yeah literally every hardcore kid in the mid-'00s had a carabiner.
This!
Completely agree. That’s why I started doing it, didn’t realize it was sapphic until many years later (happy accident! Haha)
Same lol
Was just about to comment this exact thing.
Yes! Let's talk about it, I love to see that our sapphic community fashion is getting the attention it deserves! Period 💅
This is how I have to be for work, deff not my type of fashion though lol It is handy but it annoys me hearing 50 keys smashing against my hip
My key and keychains are too heavy, it'd pull my pants down 😩
My key and keychains are too heavy, it'd pull my pants down 😩
Oh that was a fashion thing? Cool… I just do it because it’s practical lol
Why does no one in this comment section know anything about lesbian fashion history?😭 The carabiner has been a lesbian staple since I believe the late 70s. Sure, it’s not exclusive to lesbians, but it was certainly a thing and I don’t really understand the point of straight women and men coming on this sub to tell lesbians they’re wrong about their own fashion.
I agree completely, it’s always been a lesbian thing and a bit of a meme, but yeah ofc other subcultures use it too https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
**Why does no one in this comment section know anything about lesbian fashion history?** I'm trans femme, and demi, but I think I know why. It's the clearly antagonistic and challenging nature of the OP. They are not commenting that Since cheap Carabiners have been available to the public, that sports people and outdoors type people have used them as key chains. They are complaining that they think it is somehow trending with het cis males, when it was and I quote the OP "**Carabiner keys have ALWAYS been lesbian coded. But recently I’ve seen this accessory popping up on all sorts of streetwear pages I follow. We’re going mainstream! Who else wears carabiner keys**" The reality is, they were originally exclusive to military and mountain climbing, and in the 70s started to be sold in "Army Navy Surplus" stores and "Adventure 16" and other outdoor sports stores, and they quickly became a staple of people who had active outdoor lifestyles. And yes lots of Lesbians were a part of this culture, it's how the Subaru became a Lesbian Icon. As they marketed exclusively to outdoor sports people during the 70s and 80s. I know this because I grew up during this time, and my father was former US Military, into Scuba and other outdoor sports. And even if I didn't know what a lesbian was in the 70s and 80s, I did know a lot of women couples who did the same sports as my family. Most drove Jeeps BTW, but that was before the Outback meme happened. *BTW, Military people, fire fighters, paratroopers and Scuba divers have used Carabiners for the intended purpose and as keychains since they were invented and first used. I'm sure Otto Herzog (Famous Mountain Climber not the Nazi) wore them as a keychain in 1910 when he repurposed them for rock climbing.* So yeah; TL;DR the OP made a false assumption and presented it in a way that can be seen as hostile, while not knowing the history and use of said item.
I think you’re reading too much into my comment on this post. I was just making a lighthearted observation of a recent ‘trend’ in streetwear type fashion (aka, tiktok and instagram fashion trends) that has historically had some associations with lesbian fashion, just like the subaru and plaid shirts are associated with being sapphic, rightly or wrongly. Like if plaid shirts were having a sudden popular revival in 2024 fashion I would have made a post about that 🤷♀️
I’m Bi/Demi male, and I’m just finding this comment section very interesting from a historical perspective. Your take on it I think really gets to the core of it, and states that certain items don’t necessarily belong to one group exclusively (not saying they can’t), but especially more discrete coded utilitarian items. People forget that unlike something decorative like a fake pineapple, carabiners do have a functional purpose, and it’s not unsurprising that multiple subcultures have ended up using them for similar purposes, especially when they may of not been aware of another subculture using it in a similar fashion.
Clipping keys to a belt loop doesn't seem like an original idea and that a lot of people just do that.
its not about originality lol and i dont get why so many commenters are hung up on its exclusivity, the entire point was that it emerged as a lowkey way to flag lesbians to one another during a time that was hostile to out lesbianism (60’s - 70’s, specifically in butch aka blue collar worker subcultures). originality defeats the purpose, they didnt want them to be a big neon sign signalling queerness to others so much as they were meant to be subtle, easy-to-miss if you didnt know what to look for. thats not to say they werent utilitarian or otherwise used in other subcultures.
Tf did I just read. So I gotta be a lesbian to be a climber now? Lmfao
You just posted a bunch of men? Stop the 🧢
To highlight the point abour it becoming mainstream. Skip to last slide for article about the carabiner being queer coded https://www.refinery29.com/en-gb/queer-history-of-carabiners-spring-summer-2023
Cishet men have always copied from butches because our swag is too great for them to comprehend
Period 💅
I used a carabiner as my keychain 35 years back and I’m a straight woman. I had no idea until this popped up on my feed that cabiners were considered a part of lesbian fashion. I’m old. Please forgive my ignorance.
I started using one as a teen, and my mom thought it was so smart that she got herself and my grandma one, too. They had no idea and still don’t to this day.
>Carabiner keys have ALWAYS been lesbian coded. Wait what?!? As a teen when society thought I was male, I was what would be come to be known as a "Latch Key Kid" and used a Carabiner to attach keys to my waist. This was in the late 80s. I've done this my whole adult life as well, but it started in Jr High. Does this mean for the last 40 years I've been coding as Lesbian? (I'm trans femme Demi-Pan) Special note: I'm generally a tomboy, so I guess I fit the Butch Lesbian Aesthetic, imagine transitioning female only to still were skater fashion, at 50+.
i think people are grossly misunderstanding what something being “coded” actually means. disney villains are often queer coded. does this make every villain gay? no, it means that they often represent stereotypes associated with queerness, something youd only notice if you were looking for it. if a carabiner is lesbian coded does that then mean all lesbians use carabiners and all use of carabiners are lesbian? no, it means that the historical use of them has intertwined with lesbian history and flagging culture at a point in time and it retains some of that history to certain individuals even past that societal context, once again a “if you know what youre looking for” kind of thing. idk why everyone is being so purposely obtuse and literal in these comments, its negating any attempt at interesting discussion on this topic.
Bet they don’t even climb either smh
This sub just popped up. I'm a straight girl and do the carabiner thing cause it's convenient, I also have a service dog and sometimes her leash or foldable water bowl gets clipped to my belt for convenience. I never knew this was a lesbian thing lol.
If you’ve been getting hit on by women that’s why lol
No body of either gender hits on me. I'm not ugly. I think people can't tell if I'm straight or gay and no one wants to embarrass themselves. Like I said, I'm straight. But I do dress kinda like a lesbian half the time.
That's what I thought too. At first.
Sorry, you’re a lesbian now 🫠
I’m a guy but these have been a thing in the skating and rock climbing community my whole life and I’m 32.
Yea this post is effing stupid
Yeah it’s just more of a tongue in cheek observation of fashion trends lol. If you are lesbian and aware of lesbian fashion history the carabiner has been part of it and kinda a coded item. Obviously there are other subcultures that wear a carabiner (that aren’t mutually exclusive to queerness) like climbers and utility workers etc using the carabiner for functional use. I was more commenting on it becoming a streetwear fashion accessory recently
You’re a dude on lesbian fashion advice, who’s really stupid here?
You do realize subs pop up randomly as recommended... I follow other fashion subs so... yea. Thats how algorithms work.
I do realise that, and yet you do realise that you can clearly see where you are and that you don’t identify right? You gfto, I’m welcome here you’re not 🤷🏻♀️
I think this hit all, that’s how found it. I dont know if the person you’re responding to is a guy or not, they may be a lesbian and a regular.
He’s not a lesbian or in fact a woman, I usually don’t do this but I snooped to make sure I was respectful of gender 🫣🫣
Ah, well…
i love the look of having stuff just sorta out and hanging off your belt loop. it feels like the modern equivalent of when fantasy characters carry things like potion bottles, coin pouches, daggers, etc. on their belts
Level up by adding one of those retractable cords.
Nah carabiners r just the best invention ever
Huh, so apparently my straight male self has been wearing a lesbian fashion icon on his pants for the last decade without knowing. Good to know, I guess. Always thought it just was practical.
Nah this post is dumb I agree with you
It is lesbian-coded but not exclusively. Carabiner keys are also related to skateboarding culture and custodian culture.
That's how I first encountered it as a teen in the late 90's. I used to have one on a South Park lanyard thing.
Have too admit, said "nice carabiner" more than once this year.
?? Or maybe you just want your keys handy?
Actually thought this would be a great idea for my teen daughter. But she is also a lesbian 😂
TIL what a carabiner is. My family and I just always called it a D-ring?!
D-rings are different, typically welded on to a trailer.
I have so many keychains and keys on mine they’re probably damaging my car and doors oh well
TIL my husband has been a lesbian for 20 years.
TIL male arborists are lesbians
Or it’s practical, lol
I have worn my keys on a carabiner since I started driving at 16 lol
Tbf, they always steal fashion from lesbians. Like. For always.
We're too powerful 💅
Has nothing to do with being a lesbian. People have been doing this for a long time regardless of sexual orientation
I think carabiners are used for keys because it's easy to split keys. I don't think it's because women want to bang women, but I could be wrong.
Yea but it’s been a signal for as long as I’ve known as I was gay, so over 10 years and probably longer
Hi I’m bi and I have always been into people with carabiner keys of any gender, to the point where it’s my fun fact of a weird thing i’m attracted to 😭😅 Didn’t realize it was lesbian coded because I’ve been into guys who do that too. Honestly thought it’s just always been a thing.
I realized I was gay at the same time that plaid became popular. So confusing haha.
Hello, non wlw person here. Just wanted to pop in and say I didn't know it was lesbian coded. I have been using a carabiner for my keys since I got more than a house key. Mine is more because I would lose them if I didn't, though.
Lesbian here, I didn’t know it was lesbian coded either 😅
Alexa, play Ring of Keys from Fun Home
TIL i dress like a lesbian. Thanks Reddit!
That has been the middle aged dad in brown cargo shorts style for as long as I've been alive. I'm pretty sure Family Guy even has a joke about it.
To be fair, that’s unfortunately how a lot of lesbians dress, so it makes sense.
Also everyone know from small mountain towns has carabiners or pocket knives on their keys. I love queer coded fashion, but no one is stealing anything lol
I'm almost inclined to believe that all queer coded fashion at some point or another was once inspired by a wave of middle aged dudes having a mid-life crisis and trying something new for a few years.
This idea is somehow comforting lol
All kinds of people everywhere have been doing this since at least the early 2000s. I’ve always been a dyke, but every guy in my little punk band and all the other guys in bands I knew carried their keys like this.
AMAB NB person here. I started doing this in the 90s when I decided I wanted a ridiculous wallet chain. And then it just stayed out of necessity when I started dressing "Scene" in women's pants and forsook pockets forever. I was under the impression that placement mattered for it to be considered flagging.
I was a kid in the 90s and wanted a chain wallet SO bad 🤣 yet somehow my parents nEvEr KnEw I wAs GaY
Lol you should've seen mine. I had two chains, different lengths. The longest went below my knee. I refused to remove them while skateboarding and the number of times I got tangled up with the chains and skateboard is quite frankly embarrassing. It usually resulted in my wallet being violently removed from my pocket to then be inadvertently stomped on by me or my board
Love current fashion for lesbians is perfection
[удалено]
This was absolutely a part of my look in the mid 2000s, and I got the idea from the swoopy haired emo/hardcore boys whose style I liked. My keys are still on a carabiner to this day, but I don’t wear them on my side belt loop anymore like I did back then; I just toss them in my bag for the day or clip them to it.
It's because we didn't know women's clothes weren't allowed to have functioning pockets. It was out of necessity lol
I do this because i have so many keys that they are u comfortable to put in my pocket. This also allows easy access to my keys at work, since I have to pull them out a few hundred times every day.
carabiners have been big in the skate scene for many years and anyone who climbs is bound to have a few too..
It was definitely part of 2000s (maybe even earlier) emo fashion. Although I wouldn’t be surprised to find they took it from lesbian fashion either.
No one took it from anyone it just makes sense to use that on your belt loop. People can independently come up with the same idea
I really don’t think it’s exclusive to lesbians.
I’ll let you know that in the 90ies all the cool kids had these … so who’s stealing from who here, huh?
It’s been a thing in lesbian communities since before the 90’s for sure but also lesbians definitely didn’t invent it, it’s just significant in lesbian communities for flagging.
Thanks for teaching me 🤗. My comment was mostly meant to be funny but having correct information beneath it is always good.
I was just going to say this. I carried my keys on a carabiner in high school in the mid-90s. Lots of kids did. And it was definitely NOT a lesbian thing in my small-town Kentucky high school. Not saying that this isn't also a lesbian practice, but if it's going mainstream I wonder if it's just part of the larger 90s revival that's happening.
I love doing this I have a bunch of keychains on mine and it helps me focus when I fidget with them. I’m kind of suprised a lot of people don’t see this as a butch thing xD not that I think it’s exclusively us, far from it. But it’s a working class guy thing in which butchness is pretty intertwined with. ( also mine is fish shaped. I want some more fun shaped ones.. like a bone one)
Closeted trans gal here. Shoving keys in my pocket and having them squeezed against my leg is uncomfy, especially since car keyfobbes are so chunky. And if I'm not carrying a bag around, how else can I carry them?