“With regard to language, the example of Polari —a mongrel language used in England, mainly London — is particularly representative of the links between language and culture. It was spoken almost exclusively by male actors, choristers, showmen, professional wrestlers, sailors and sex workers in the context of the gay subculture. Linguist Paul Baker explains: ‘Polari was much more than a camp fad, however. It was a necessity. In a world where homosexuality was stigmatised through the institutions of law, medicine and religion, these men needed a way to express themselves without getting caught.’”^{[1] [2]} 

The use of codes can be ambiguous, with the potential to be used by those in power to identify and mark a section of the population. One notable example is the pink triangle used by the Nazis to persecute homosexuals. The triangle was later recovered, turned inside out and used as a symbol of the struggle waged by Act-Up during the HIV/AIDS crisis. Similarly, the term ‘queer’ has been reappropriated by the LGBTQIA+ community, originally an insult meaning ‘strange, weird’. This process of reappropriation is known as ‘flipping stigma’.

The intention behind the use of graphic codes can be multifaceted and occasionally paradoxical: between the desire to be accessible and understandable to as many people as possible (e.g. the rainbow flag) and/or to remain a marker of recognition for its community without being perceived or read by the uninitiated.

The graphic signs specific to a community can also be stolen by people or institutions who are not involved, who do not belong to the community in question, as a fashion statement or an attempt to recuperate. This is where the risks of pinkwashing, queerwashing and cultural reappropriation arise. The use of symbols of LGBTQIA+ struggles on T-shirts by major ready-to-wear brands is an example of the dilution of their original meaning in the pursuit of economic gain.

To remain elusive, marginalised communities frequently utilise their creativity to adapt their codes once they have been integrated into mainstream environments.^[3] 

Bye Bye Binary is a Belgian-French collective engaged in the creation of new typographic typefaces. Its members have long advocated for the opening of imaginaries as a means of facilitating people’s reclamation of language and writing codes. They encourage the “choice of the non-choice”^[4] to prevent the reproduction of normative spaces.

“The development of new languages based on the values held by marginalised individuals enables the reconstruction of an alternative reality in which it is possible to be represented or simply exist. These mongrel languages are constructed in opposition to the dominant language.”^[5]

Dealing with the French language from a queer perspective often carries a distinct taste. It frequently concerns gender-specific roles, both in content and form, with an assertive codification of the role that every man and woman must think, do or be. Ultimately, it all comes down to the subject, the “he/she”.

This prompts a series of questions for marginalised people:

• How can I identify with these words, concepts, and ideas?
•  How can I be satisfied with the woman who loves the man, the man who protects the woman?
•  Are these identities fixed at birth, from which we will never move or question for the rest of our lives?
• Would it be possible, if we were allowed, to exist beyond the margins?
•  To go beyond reading between the lines?

Post-binary typography — which proposes new letterforms to overcome the gender binary present in certain languages, principally French — can be seen as a set of graphic codes creating a sense of identity within the community. Fonts containing these specific ligatures are, in spite of themselves, a marker of recognition.