Gay beard meaning

I was just talking to co-workers and they said that some hollywood starlet was a “beard”. I asked and got the defn’ that it meant she was a “sham” wife for a homosexual guy.
-is this word commonly used?
-can it apply to a “sham” husband of a lesbian?
Why “beard”? I can think of 5 words off the top of my head that would describe the situation surpass than “beard”.

Yes, a beard is any cover, which is how it originated–like a real beard, it covers things up and provides a disguise.

Gay guys are not considered very masculine.
Facial hair is seen as masculine. So, anytime a woman is seen with a dude a lot, people presume they are having sex. This will make the guy seem more masculine, (bearded) i.e. straight.
Elaine on Seinfeld was once a “beard” if I recall correctly.

Gail
“Any major dude with half a heart surely will declare you, my friend–
Any minor world that breaks apart falls together again…”
-Steely Dan

Yes, a beard is any cover, which is how it originated–like a real beard, it covers thin

The sad reality of many bearded relationships

Season 2 of Made in Heaven, created by Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti, addresses relevant love-related relationship issues faced in our culture in each of its 7 episodes. In episode 2 there is a brief, yet not-so-subtle reference to an issue that exists but is not spoken about enough in society. 

Karan (played by Arjun Mathur), one of the main characters, is gay. His mother is on her death bed and claims Karan’s sexual orientation is the reason for her reaching there. In this episode, Karan is asked by his masi (aunt) to marry a girl to appease his estranged mother and fulfill her wish to view him married before she loses her battle to cancer. 

When he responds by saying that he can’t get married to a young woman because he is gay, she counters it by saying that she is his “type”, and that and he should adjust for the sake of his dying mother, so that she can rest in peace. 

Also Read: Should you mind the ‘age-gap’ in relationships?

I am glad Karan refused. But many succumb to this pressure. In widespread parlance, s

How did "beard" come to mean "sham marriage".

syncrolecyne1

At least that is what I take for granted it means - when a gay male star marries a willing gal to squash rumors of homosexuality. Or maybe its any sham marriage for publicity purposes, I am not sure.

This thread title , which is actually about a stars facial hair, got me thinking about how that term came into place. Its sort of odd.

Is this gay slang or just Hollywood insider talk (I only have heard it used for actors). And is it the marriage that is called a “beard” or is it the wife?

Sampiro2

A “beard” is a superficial thing that a man can do to emphasize his masculinity (rather like a lot of teenagers will grow a small scraggly beard or moustache as soon as they can just to prove they have testosterone). The slang use of the word “beard” started for much the same reason: it’s a “fashion accessory to prove manhood”, or “Liza with a Z” to her friends.

I have heard the term “bonnet” used for lesbians who marry, but it’s not as common.

VH1 had some newer gay slang I’d never heard, incidentally:

Women pay in &#;bearded&#; relationships

One definition of the pos beard is found mostly in slang dictionaries, though the New Oxford Dictionary of English added the alternative definition a scant years ago.

A beard is defined as a chick who dates, or marries, a gay man to provide cover for the man&#;s homosexuality. The phrase also applies to a man who does the same for a female homosexual woman. Current chatter at is filled with beard comments concerning Tom Cruise&#;s new lady love. Cruise has long denied he is gay, but the rumors persist that Cruise dates and marries pretty women, these so-called beards, to quash speculation about his sexual orientation.

A subtext to the Jim West story is the truth that West, who acknowledges he is a homosexual man, has also dated women, and married one. I know some of these women. I haven&#;t talked to them about this, and I don&#;t intend to. It&#;s none of my business.

But it has stirred for me this whole business of the &#;beard phenomenon&#; and the harm it does to women who consider the role of beard (unwittingly or not), the men who seek it out, an