Let’s learn more about this classic queer symbol
BY BELLA FRANCIS, IMAGES BY BELLA FRANCIS
Carabiners seem like a relatively recent lesbian signaller, but its history goes back further than you might think.
The belt side key ring, also called “the lesbian latch”, is one of the most enduring symbols of lesbian culture.
“When I first came out, the key ring was the first visual cue I learned of my new world,” wrote Christina Cauterucci for Slate. And she’s right! Since attending University in Manchester, I’ve had the privilege of going to the Gay Village most weekends. Besides Chappell Roan and Azealia Banks, one of the staple sounds I’ve heard over the past three years has been the jingle jangle of carabiners.
Although the term “carabiner” can be traced back to the 16th century, the modern carabiner we’re most familiar with today was first produced in 1911 by German climber Otto Herzog for hiking purposes. Over the next few decades, these became an easy and practical way for working-class people, as well as climbers, to carry around equipment or keys.
It’s difficult to trace the history of the carabiner as a queer accessory, but many draw it back to World War Two. With hundreds of thousands of men away fighting during the Second World War, labour shortages became acute leading women to fill these roles on the production line.
Carabiners served women in the blue-collar workforce as a multifunctional tool. After the war ended, women working outside the home in any capacity were often reluctant to give up their newly won financial freedom and independence, therefore giving the carabiner a signifier of female liberation, masculinity, and eventually lesbianism.
In the 1970s, the working-class associations of carabiners flourished among both feminists and lesbians who dressed to subvert the male gaze.
Fashion during the decade was far more androgynous than in previous eras. This combined with the political climate of the early 1970s and the emerging lesbian feminism sparked redefinitions of lesbian identity, with women leaning towards more butch and androgynous looks compatible with the rusticness of a carabiner.
As part of lesbian iconography, a carabiner has also been used to indicate a woman’s sexual preference. During the 70s, there was widespread agreement that wearing the latch on the left side of the body indicated one was a top; while wearing it on the right indicated they were a bottom. In this sense, the carabiner was the lesbian version of the hanky code, a system where gay men would communicate their sexual preferences by wearing a coloured bandana in the left or right back pocket.
In recent years, the carabiner has become a more mainstream fashion accessory. Daisy Jones, writing for British Vogue, said: “I’ve clocked young fashion people in book shops wearing them. Straight-looking Gen-Z guys have started clipping them onto their Dickies jeans. Even Carrie Bradshaw was spotted wearing one around her neck during a second-season episode of And Just Like That.”
Despite this, the lesbian latch has certainly stood the test of time as a part of queer iconography. Perhaps it is due to the adaptability of the accessory. Unlike other lesbian symbols, such as lavenders or the labrys, carabiners are versatile, easily wearable, and discreet. They are a perfect visual signifier for a culture that contains a full spectrum of gender presentations.
It is interesting to note, however, how the use of the carabiner has come somewhat full circle in the lesbian realm. I was speaking with some of my friends the other week and a lot of them suggested that the continual popularity of carabiners has to do with rock-climbing becoming a genuinely popular sport in the lesbian community. This trend is undeniable, with there now being multiple queer climbing clubs in the UK such as Not So Trad, Climbing QTs UK, and GOC Adventure Out.
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