Handkerchief Code

This evening I was dressing for a "Project Runway" viewing party. I looked in the mirror and felt like my outfit was missing something. As I walked through the bathroom, I noticed two red handkerchiefs that I never use. Ah! The Hankie Code! Perfect! It's always nice to bring a bit of cultural heritage into a look.

For those who are not familiar with the Hanky Code, it is a remnant from the golden days of gay male culture. In order to streamline the ancient process of cruising bars for hot sex, the venerable fathers of gay culture invented a color-coded system. A hankerchief of a given color, placed in either the right or left back pocket of your trousers, was all a man needed to tell the world what he was looking for that night. This code, though known to the gays of modern day, lingers on the edge of becoming a dead language. Most tend to blame this on the AIDS epidemic.

Before heading off to a party with a red sinal blaring from my pocket, I thought it prudent to find out what signal I was sending. After all, there might be other hankie-coders out tonight. As it turns out, according to the code, I am into fisting. By standard practice, Left Pocket means Active/Top and Right Pocket means Passive/Bottom. To avoid completely fibbing, I switched the hankie to the right.

Tables breaking down the many permutations of the Hankie Code can be found on these sites:

• The Compleat Hanky Code
• Gay Hanky Codes
• Hanky Code PAGE

Some of my favorites:

Those that know will me will be delighted to know that wearing a rosary means that you're into Ritual Scenes.

Excerpt from "The Compleat Handkerchief Code"
Active/Top Worn On Left	Color, Pattern, Fabric, or Item	Passive/Bottom Worn On Right
Wants Oral Sex	Blue (Light)	Expert At Oral Sex
Cop	Blue (Medium)	CopSucker
Two Looking For One	Gold	One Looking For Two
Fights To Be Top	Rebel Flag	Fights To Be Bottom
Group Sex	Red Lace	Group Sex Bottom
Fister	Red	Fistee
Sixty-Niner	Robin's Egg Blue	Sixty-Niner
Cowboy	Rust	Horse
Pirate	Skull And Crossbones	Treasure Chest
My Lover's Out; My Place Okay	Toothbrush	Your Place Only
Catheterizer	Turquoise	Catheterizee
Likes Novices Or Masturbate Me	White	Novice Or Will Masturbate Both
Water Sports Top	Yellow	Water Sports Bottom
Has Drugs	Ziplok Bag	Wants Drugs