Just looking at a guy with a pierced ear and assuming his sexuality is completely wrong. Today, it is impossible to clearly and directly tell whether a person is straight just by looking at his pierced ears. For this reason, it is often impossible to tell if a man is gay or straight just by looking at which ear is pierced.

Straight men pierce their left ear, and gay men pierce their right. This association began in the 1980s and persisted throughout the 1990s, but the association between the piercing side and sexual preference has gradually disappeared as homosexuality has become increasingly normalized throughout western countries.

Nowadays, it is perfectly normal for men to pierce only the right ear, only the left ear, or both ears without a hint of any sexual orientation. In most cases, heterosexual men are advised to avoid ear piercing if they intend to remain heterosexual. It is now widely believed in some circles that if you want to show your heterosexuality, you need to get your left ear pierced. For example, if a guy wants to say and show that he is straight in terms of sexual orientation, then he should have his left ear pierced.

The Left Ear Is the Gay One

If you choose to have your ears pierced to reveal your sexuality, the left ear is generally considered heterosexual and the right is gay. As mentioned earlier, where you live determines whether a right ear piercing is considered gay.

The main rumor about earrings (which still exists today) is that if a guy only pierces his right ear, he does it as a sign that others know that I am gay. Men who get their left ear pierced, right ear or both nowadays Men who get their left ear pierced just turn out to be cool. If we look at the modern era, it is noticed that all types of men get their ears pierced and other piercings just to express themselves. It has become a common practice to see men with pierced ears, large earrings and other decorative ornaments on their bodies.

With the advent of this type of jewelry line, it can be said that more and more people have adopted an outdated and not so cool trend. More than now, more and more attention began to attract those men who pierced their ears. Due to the stereotype previously applied to men who pierce their ears, there is now a common misconception that piercing a specific ear signifies a man’s sexual orientation.

Where the Connotations Arose

There is a misconception that only homosexual men wear earrings and also on a specific earlobe to show that they identify as such. In the 1980s, when the number of men wearing earrings went on an upward trajectory; it has become the norm to consider straight people who wear earrings on their right ear to be heterosexual. It also became widely believed that men who wore earrings in their left ears were gay.

Then the idea of ​​a gay ear was born, a gay ear, no one knows if it was fashionable or shameful, and the idea could only come from people who were not used to seeing men with earrings.

The proliferation led to some confusion, and stories began to circulate that there was a secret code that wearing an earring in a pierced left ear was homosexual, and wearing an earring in a pierced right ear was a defiant heterosexual. It was considered quite embarrassing, if not terrifying, for a straight man to have the wrong ear pierced because he was sending the wrong message. In some places, the idea of ​​piercing one side of the body as gay was reversed, as the left ear was the signifier.

Gay Men and Pierced Ears

The ear that most gays get pierced most of the time is the left ear, hence its reputation as a gay ear. Pierced ears are the earlobes or cartilaginous portion of the outer ears that have one or more holes made for the use of one or more holed earrings. Although piercings that extend beyond the hole in the ear are becoming more common, they can still distinguish people.

It is not uncommon to see men with both ears pierced and large diamond earrings or something more discreet. The world of hip-hop and other genres has also come to show us that straight men can also wear earrings in both ears without anyone calling them gay. When asked, many gay men will respond that ear piercing as a way of identifying them is outdated and therefore should not be taken seriously.

The Connotation Is Slowly Disappearing

It should be noted that the concept of gay ears is rapidly losing ground as more and more people get their ears pierced without resorting to sexual inclinations. The older generation may not approve of loansharking, but millennials and later generations don’t pay much attention to what’s considered gay and what’s not when it comes to ear piercings. All Millennials, Gen Zers, and even Baby Boomers are less concerned about learning about boys’ sexual preferences by looking at their ear piercings.

With the advent of K-pop artists, rappers, and hip-hop artists, the belief that guys with ear piercings are gay has begun to fade. In the 1980s, the trend of male pop music performers to have their ears pierced helped set the fashion trend for men. In the late 1960s, ear piercings began to make their way among men through the hippie and gay communities, although they had been popular with sailors for decades (or more).

Richard Rouillard, editor-in-chief of the gay newspaper The Advocate, says that when many gay men started wearing earrings in the 1970s, the earring in their right ear likely indicated some sexual preference.