The ambiguously gay

It's frequently combined with Word of Gayfor cases when the character's homosexuality remains deliberately ambiguous within the work itself but is declared elsewhere by a creator. Compare and contrast with Homoerotic Subtextwhich is about same-gender characters who may or may not be attracted to each other, but nevertheless have gay moments which are often lampshaded by the work itself.

They're ambiguously gay! The Ambiguously Gay Duo is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on The Dana Carvey Show before moving to its permanent home on Saturday Night Live. Compare Hide Your Lesbianswherein the relationship between two characters is ambiguously gay.

Watch it here. See also Pseudo-Romantic Gay. In other cases where the censors may not have permitted any overt implications of homosexual attraction, creators would sometimes deliberately utilize stereotypical traits as a way of Getting Crap Past the Radar and implying a character's homosexuality.

This trope has taken slightly different forms throughout the past due to differences in censorship and what was permissible in the media. Yes, this character is Ambiguously Gay—they display much onscreen evidence of exclusive same-gender attraction, but nothing is ever explicitly confirmed one way or another.

Perhaps you have a male character who is visibly touch-feely towards another male character, while. Perhaps you have a male character who is visibly touch-feely towards another male character, while being similarly open in rejecting the advances of any female characters who come his way.

The ambiguity can range all the way from from blink-and-you'll-miss-it implications to all-but-confirmed. A closely related trope is Ambiguously Biwhich is similar to this trope but with bisexuality as opposed to homosexuality, and often involves a character who often shows ambiguously attraction towards at least one gender in canon.

Other characters in the work may even question exactly which way this character swings, but never get an answer. [2] It follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, respectively, two. Here's why SNL's "Ambiguously Gay Duo: Safety Tips" TV Funhouse sketch was voiced by Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert.

In many old films, characters were often given descriptions that may be the as code words for "gay".

The Ambiguously Gay Duo :

However, it still lives on in some kinds of media aimed at international audiences, due to certain countries having more stringent anti-LGBT censorship than others. Or when the other male characters ogle the resident Ms. Fanservicethis character hardly bats an eye, but he seems quite interested in what the Walking Shirtless Scene is doing.

A No Recent Examples rule applies to this trope. In modern sociological theory, these characters are described as being "queer-coded". This particular permutation of Ambiguously Gay has largely become a Broken Trope in domestic media due to contemporary media being more open to depiction of explicitly gay characters, many of whom don't necessarily conform to stereotypes.

The character's sexuality is simply never made clear within the work.

Examples for episodic works shouldn't be added until end of season for the season introducing the ambiguity or after 3 monthsfor episodic works without seasons. Not to be confused with Ho Yaywhich is an Audience Reaction for fans interpreting any interactions between two characters of the same gender as homoerotic, whether or not it's deliberately implied within the text and regardless of what sexual orientation the characters may have in canon.

Also compare and contrast Queer Establishing Momentfor when an Ambiguously Gay character graduates out of the "Ambiguously" part. As a result, modern instances of the trope are less likely to rely on stereotypes or code; common reasons for characters in newer works being considered Ambiguously Gay include a lack of interest in heterosexual relationships, overtly implied romantic or sexual interest in a character of the same gender, and In-Universe rumors about the character's sexuality.

[1] It is created and produced by Robert Smigel and J. J. Sedelmaier as part of the Saturday TV Funhouse series of sketches. For example a male character might lispshow and have an interest in fashion and musicalshave no apparent interest in the opposite sex, and live in a single-bedroom apartment with one of their "roommates".

The Ambiguously Gay trope as used in popular culture.