Download or read book Polari - The Lost Language of Gay Men written by Paul Baker and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2003-09-02 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Polari is a secret form of language mainly used by homosexual men in London and other cities during the twentieth century. Derived in part from the slang lexicons of numerous stigmatised and itinerant groups, Polari was also a means of socialising, acting out camp performances and reconstructing a shared gay identity and worldview among its speakers. This book examines the ways in which Polari was used in order to construct 'gay identities', linking its evolution to the changing status of gay men and lesbians in the UK over the past fifty years.