With just a glance at your rear end, (the bandana being tucked in your back pocket) anyone who is in-the-know will know what you’re “into!”
Originating in the early 1970’s in either New York or San Francisco (let’s not even try to settle that debate), the hanky code is a system of signaling sexual preferences, fetishes, and roles by choosing to wear a specifically colored bandana on a particular side of the body. Quite often in “Grindr” chat, this is shortened to be simply “into?” - just like ships used cyphers (flags) to communicate, we gay men have our own way to communicate sexual preferences and proclivities. When two men are negotiating a sexual encounter or even compatibility to date, the phrase “What are you into?” will inevitably come from one or both.
(Editor’s Note: With the new “mask when going out” regulations for Greater Palm Springs, we thought it was time to revisit the Hanky Code and consider applying it to wearing one on your face!)
