Transport for London (TfL) celebrates the month of pride by remembering a secret language used by the LGBTQ + community.
Until 1967, homosexuality was illegal in England and Wales, forcing the community underground.
Until about the 1970s, Polari – a language “composed of Italian phrases, rhyming slang and side-terms” – was used in the capital’s secret gay scene.
Polari was first developed in the 1700s and 1800s by vagrants, circus performers, sailors and travelers.
As LGBTQ + people have also been driven out of traditional society, Polari has become a way for people to identify and converse with each other without anyone else knowing.
TfL put up posters with messages written in the slang as part of its campaign to celebrate 50 years of Pride with the rest of London.
One sign, ‘bona to vada your dolly old eke’ means ‘nice to see your pretty old face’.
Another says, ‘You turn my oyster up’. It translates to: ‘It makes me smile’.
TfL put up ‘specially designed’ photos and posters advertising LGBTQ + businesses that served a ‘role, legacy and support’ for the community.
There are also portraits of more than 20 TfL employees and contractors who ‘tell the stories of staff members who are their authentic selves’.
Even through Pride month coming to an end, London’s official Pride march has been set for 2 July.
This will be the first time the LGBTQ + community can celebrate Pride in two years – after the event was repeatedly postponed due to Covid-19.
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Metro.co.uk celebrates 50 years of Pride
This year marks 50 years of Pride, so it just seems fitting that Metro.co.uk goes above and beyond in our ongoing LGBTQ + support, through a myriad of content that not only celebrates everything Pride celebrates, but also shares stories, time take to reflect and cultivate community awareness this Pride month.
And we have some amazing names on board to help us too. From a list of well-known guest editors who take over the site for a week that includes roof rinder, Nicholas Adams, Peter Tatchell, Kimberly Hart Simpson, John White, Anna Richardson and Dr Ranjas well as keeping Sir Ian McKellen a Drag Race stars The Vivienne, Lawrence Chaney and Tannie Kofi to offer their insights.
During Pride Month, which runs from 1 – 30 June, Metro.co.uk will also support Kyiv Pride, a Ukrainian charity that is forced to work harder than ever to protect the rights of the LGBTQ + community during times of conflict, and the Youth Homelessness Charity AKT. To find out more about their work, and what you can do to support them, click here.
For Metro.co.uk‘s latest Pride coverage, click here.