wear the ruby slippers

[Jesse Sheidlower]

In the mainstream, Randy Shilts's _Conduct Unbecoming: Gays & Lesbians
in the U.S. Military_ (1993) discussed this, telling about a naval
investigation in the early 1980s where agents sought a woman named
Dorothy, thinking that she was involved in a ring of gay service
members. And it's often said to date from WWII, but the earliest
evidence I've seen is from McConville and Shearlaw's _Slanguage of Sex_
from 1984.

Bruce Rodgers does have an entry for _Dorothy and Toto_ referring to a
male couple where the effeminate member of the couple has the dominant
role.

Jesse Sheidlower
OED

On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 08:38:30AM -0400, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> A "friend of Dorothy": about 1992 in my recollection, just too late too get
> into HDAS1. I remember discussing it with Jesse at the time.
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 7:02 AM, Margaret Lee <mlee303 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: wear the ruby slippers
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I=A0read or heard the expression "friends of Dorothy" ten or more years
> > ago=
> >  but =0Acan't remember where.=0A=A0=0A--Margaret
> > Lee=0A=0A=0A=0A___________=
> > _____________________=0AFrom: Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>=0ATo:
> > ADS=
> > -L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU=0ASent: Wed, March 16, 2011 1:21:18 PM=0ASubject: Re:
> > w=
> > ear the ruby slippers=0A=0AOn Mar 16, 2011, at 6:55 AM, crawford wrote:=0A=
> > =0A> I presume the expression "wear the ruby slippers" (from=0A> The
> > Wizard=
> >  of Oz) is an oblique reference to "friends of Dorothy".=0A>=0A> Has
> > anyone=
> >  else come across the expression used to indicate
> > homosexuality?=0A=0Aposti=
> > ng here:=0A=A0
> > http://arnoldzwicky.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/rubyred-slipper=
> > spumps/=0A=0A------------------------------------------------------------=
> > =0AThe American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org=0A=0A=0A=
> > =0A
> >
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