History Main / GenderNonconformingEqualsGay

* ''Manga/BoysAbyss'' has [[spoiler:Gen Minegishi]], who initially appears as a very macho bully for the first half of the story but secretly [[spoiler:likes women's clothing and makeup and is equal parts admiring and jealous of femininity. He's also deeply in love with his former friend-turned bully victim, Reiji Kurose, and is the only explicitly gay character in the stoy.]]

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Moxxie has several stereotypically feminine hobbies, [[AllGaysLoveTheater loves musical theater]], is an avid crossdresser and has a fairly submissive personality [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy especially when compared to his wife]]. So it's not really much of a surprise that he's bisexual and has dated a male shark demon in the past.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Luz wears [[QuirkyGirlQuirkyTux a tuxedo with a tutu skirt]] [[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E16EnchantingGromFright to Grom]] in an episode focused on her relationship with Amity Blight. The two of them become a couple later that season, and Luz eventually formally comes out to her family as bisexual.

-->'''Paula:''' I saw you with my own eyes! You were kissing after your match [[note]]On the cheek, in excitement, after speaking with a talent scout for an American college.[[/note]]! I'm not stupid, you know! And anyway, look at the clothes you wear!\\

* ''Manga/BoysAbyss'' has [[spoiler:Gen Minegishi]], who initially appears as a very macho bully for the first half of the story but secretly [[spoiler:likes women's clothing and makeup and is equal parts admiring and jealous of femininity. He's also deeply in love with his former friend-turned bully victim, Reiji Kurose.]]

As media becomes largely less stereotypical and more understanding, this is on its way to becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Unfortunately, fandom perception is such that any even remotely non-gender-conforming character is leapt upon and immediately declared "queer representation" with online mobs sicced on even the author if they point out that this is not the case or was not the author's intention.

So the trope has moved from the media to fandom perception rather than simply dying out.

* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''Manga/IThinkOurSonIsGay'': [[TroubledSympatheticBigot Akiyoshi]] has a very stereotyped view of gay people, so when he hears that one of his wife Tomoko's coworkers has come out, he assumes the man will start to cross-dress at work. He doesn't mean it maliciously but Tomoko gently encourages him to broaden his mind a little.

* ''Literature/IAmJazz'': Jazz says that some signs she's a trans girl are that she [[PinkMeansFeminine likes pink]], prefers wearing skirts over pants, and isn't interested in superheroes.

* ''Manga/RurouniKenshin'': Honjou Kamatari is a crossdressing gay man whom Misao initially mistakes for a cisgender woman ([[UnsettlingGenderReveal he flashes her by way of correction]]). His given name is a pun on "kama", meaning his preferred weapon of a chain-scythe, and "okama", a Japanese slang term for crossdressing gay men. He's the only confirmably queer character in the series.

As media becomes largely less stereotypical and more understanding, this is on its way to becoming a DeadHorseTrope. Unfortunately, fandom perception is such that any even remotely non-gender-conforming character is leapt upon and immediately declared "queer representation" with online mobs sicced on even the author if they point out that this is not the case.

As media becomes largely less stereotypical and more understanding, this is on its way to becoming a DeadHorseTrope.

-->'''Paula:''' I saw you with my own eyes! You were kissing after your match [note]]On the cheek, in excitement, after speaking with a talent scout for an American college.[[/note]]! I'm not stupid, you know! And anyway, look at the clothes you wear!\\

-->'''Jules:''' Mother, just because I wear trackies and play sports ''does not make me a lesbian.'' Me and Jess were fighting because we both fancy our coach... Joe.\\

'''Paula:''' ''(wiping her eyes)'' Oh no, of course not sweetheart, no. [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I've got nothing against it.]] [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial I was cheering for Martina Navratilova as much as the next person!]]\\

'''Paula:''' ''(wiping her eyes)'' Oh no, of course not sweetheart, no. [[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat I've got nothing against it.]] [[SuspiciouslySignificantDenial I was cheering for Martina Navratilova as much as the next person!]]\\

->Look at that tan, well-tinted skin
->Look at the killer shape he's in
->Look at that slightly stubbly chin
->Oh please, he's gay, totally gay!
-->-- '''Theatre/LegallyBlonde,''' "There! Right There!"

Contrast CampStraight, which is often based on the same principle but applies to straight characters. This is often what leads to people being MistakenForGay, though this is for so-called "straight" examples - where the character ''isn't'' straight and this is treated as {{foreshadowing}}, and/or when the sexuality of the character is [[AmbiguouslyGay not explicitly]] [[AmbiguouslyBi confirmed.]] As such, '''no real-life examples, please!'''

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film - Live-Action]]

-->'''Hannah''': In what way does my father read gay to you?
-->'''Elijah''': Uh, well, he has a stud in his ear.
-->'''Hannah''': He got it on a trip he took with a bunch of his male friends.

--->'''Mr Wu''': Veronica, I think when you get out in the world a little more, you'll discover that not all well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented men are gay. Many of them are just... Asian.

[[folder: Webcomics]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

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[[folder: Fan Works]]

[[folder: Film - Live-Action]]

* ''Film/ButImACheerleader'': The 'ungaying' process by the [[CureYourGays Anti-Gay Camp]] True Directions invokes this trope by focusing mainly on trying to get the characters to fulfil traditional gender roles. This is especially mystifying for Megan, who is femme but gay [[spoiler:and Jan, who is butch but straight.]] Similarly, Dolph, a varsity wrestler, is pretty 'masculine' to begin with but somehow the camp seems to suggest that by becoming even more masculine, he'll magically stop being gay.

* ''Film/InAndOut'': Downplayed. Howard Brackett has a few gender nonconforming qualities, such as a love of literature, dancing, and Creator/BarbraStreisand. But other than these, the audience (and Howard himself) are lead to believe he has just been MistakenForGay, even emphasized [[NeverTrustATrailer in the trailers]]... until [[ClosetKey Howard gets kissed by Peter]] and realizes, at the altar to be married to a woman, that he is, in fact, gay. Subverted with Peter, who is ManlyGay, and Aldo the hairdresser, who has equally strong opinions about Streisand but appears to be straight.
* ''Film/INowPronounceYouChuckandLarry'': A minor subplot of the film is Larry being worried that his ten-year-old son, Eric, may be gay since he's more interested in theater and would rather tap dance and sing than play baseball. much to Larry's chagrin.

[[folder: Literature]]

* ''Literature/ReignOfTheSevenSpellblades'': Tim Linton is an openly gay upperclassman who alternates between wearing the standard men's school uniform and dressing in drag for his own amusement. However, he's the only queer character in the series whom this applies to: Pete Reston is a SexShifter who prefers to present as masculine, Carlos Whitrow dresses androgynously and is nonbinary, and Leoncio Echevalria is aggressively StraightGay.

[[folder: Live-Action TV]]

** Burt Hummel always knew Kurt was gay; for his third birthday, he wanted "sensible heels."

** It's taken for a fact that two kids -- one openly gay, one uncertain about his sexuality but treated by all as if he were "really" gay -- should have no interest in sports, which is a clue that they were really at the baseball field to [[spoiler:confront their abuser, Woody Goodman, which also has some RapeAndSwitch implications.]]
** Veronica thinks [[spoiler:Woody's other victim, Cassidy Casablancas]] is gay and outright says this to him in their confrontation. [[spoiler:She thinks that he wasn't able to [[TheLoinsSleepTonight have sex with Mac]] but he was able to rape the unconscious Veronica because he could "imagine whatever he needed to." He's also shown to be much less interested in sex and to be withdrawn and shy, and is constantly teased for his lack of interest in girls.]]

-->'''Mr Wu''': Veronica, I think when you get out in the world a little more, you'll discover that not all well-dressed, articulate, detail-oriented men are gay. Many of them are just... Asian.

* ''Theatre/LegallyBlonde'': Lends the page quote. Discussed and toned down a bit from the original. Elle suspects Nikos is gay when he doesn't react to her Bend & Snap, which has a 99% effective rate on straight men (and lesbian women, if Enid's reaction is any indication). When Warner points out they can't build a legal strategy on the Bend & Snap alone, Elle, points out all of the signs of gender nonconformity he displays, such as his silk shirts and waxed chest. Callahan and Vivian point out that his gender nonconformity might simply be because he's European, which has different standards for masculinity. After an entire song debating the issue, the trope ends up getting played straight when Emmet gets Nikos to FreudianSlip his boyfriend's name on the stand.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Moxxie has several stereotypically feminine hobbies, [[AllGaysLoveTheater loves musical theater]], is an avid crossdresser, and has a fairly submissive personality [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy especially when compared to his wife]]. So it's not really much of a surprise that he's bisexual and dated a male shark demon in the past.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Luz wears a tuxedo with a tutu skirt [[Recap/TheOwlHouseS1E16EnchantingGromFright to Grom]] in an episode focused on her relationship with Amity Blight. The two of them become a couple later that season, and Luz eventually formally comes out to her family as bisexual.

[[/folder]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'': Catra tends to act fairly masculine and is the only female character to wear a tux to Princess Prom, while also getting heady amounts of romantic subtext with Adora. [[spoiler:The finale has her give Adora an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove and the two get together]].

* Before Max came out as trans, his dad Kai thought that he liked girls because of how he hated anything girly.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Moxxie has several stereotypically feminine hobbies, [[AllGaysLoveTheater loves musical theater]], is an avid crossdresser, and has a fairly submissive personality [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy especially when compared to his wife]]. So it's not really much of a surprise that he's bisexual and dated a male shark demon in the past.

->- '''Theatre/LegallyBlonde,''' "There! Right There!"