“Fairy Loops”

A “fairy loop” was an American slang term for the little fabric hook on the back of men’s and boys' shirts in the 1960s and they were put there by the manufacturers to hang these shirts on a locker hook or whenever a hanger wasn’t available.

These nifty little clothing hooks were not intended to show that you were a homosexual, daring bullies to call you a “fairy” while ripping them off your shirts — often tearing the shirt — as you walked down the corridor in high school. Bullies back then liked to call any male student a "fairy" if that student was better looking, well groomed, got better grades or was better liked by the girls. Go figure.

I was as "girl crazy" as the next guy in junior high and especially in senior high school. I had serious crushes on several girls in my class and carried a torch for at least one of those girls throughout my freshman year in college. None of us regular students (actually we were "pupils" because we didn't pay tuition) were fully prepared for the onslaught of hillbilly, farmboy and "greaser" redneck hatred regarding these so-called "fairy loops". The same bunch of fairy loop hunters, who were either serious "fairy phobes" or just seriously mean and hateful, even went so far as to declare that any boy who wore a red shirt on Friday was "queer".

By my senior year of incarceration for being a teenager, the incredibly stupid and nasty boys with "queers on the brain" added the warning that wearing yellow shirts on Wednesday and pink shirts on Thursday was also proof that you were "queer". This extended bully-ass manifesto gave these white-trash freaks access to a lot more "fairy loops" and the chance opportunity to destroy more personal property belonging to the smarter, friendlier and better groomed boys in the process. These guys were so stupid they didn't even realize that their ridiculous queer criteria made most of our class "queer" and the rest "queer phobes".

Now, don't jump to conclusions. I wasn't for or against anyone's "personal lifestyle choice" back then and that wasn't because I was so opened minded. No. It was because that shit wasn't even an issue back then and also because I just didn't give a shit, one way or another. I was more concerned about getting good grades to get into college and about the girls I had crushes on. For several years, I secretly imagined the "deaths" of these Nazi  fairy loop hunters and I vowed to never return to those "hallowed (hallowed, my ass) halls" ever again or, worse yet, to attend a class reunion, once I was finally set free of them and that place on graduation day. And that was a promise I never broke.

And I made that promise to myself and kept it because, unfortunately, in my 1960's high school experience, hostile redneck hillbilly asshole students were on a continual quest for “fairy loops”.

Talk about queer.

Post updated 11-9-13 for image link and for clarity.