Rough Trade

Rough trade is a mid-20th-century gay slang term. "Trade" referred to a masculine, frequently straight-identified man who had sex with gay men, sometimes for money or favors. "Rough" added the sense of a working-class, tough, or potentially violent partner, seen as risky yet desirable. The phrase reflects how gay subculture navigated class, masculinity, and danger during an era when same-sex activity was criminalized and encounters carried real risk of harm or blackmail. The term appears throughout mid-century gay literature and has been used by writers like Tennessee Williams and W. H. Auden. Today it survives mostly in historical and cultural contexts.