Is a seahorse a lesbian symbol?

Answer 1

Actually, mermaids were first conceived of in ancient mythology as a symbol of heterosexual lust. Stories were told about male sailors on long voyages who believed they saw beautiful mermaids (or "sirens") basking on rocks, and sailed towards them hoping to get a better view. The mermaids' beauty would distract the sailors long enough for them to lose control of the ship and ultimately wreck on the rocks.

That said, it's definitely possible that someone or some group of people has used a mermaid as a lesbian symbol.

Answer 2

I don't know if it is everywhere, but it was in Baltimore during at least part of the 20th century.

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I came out in 1975 at age 19. One of the first bits of "old" Lesbian trivia I learned about and personally saw was middle-aged and old Lesbians wearing seahorse necklaces or earrings or with seahorse tattoos. I was told this was a common Lesbian symbol from the 50's and 60's (possibly earlier - not sure how far it went back) and that the seahorse had been adopted for the gender-bending nature it symbolized. It was not a tradition with my younger post-Stonewall generation - we wore lambdas, labryses, or double-women symbols. I distinctly remember the women that wore seahorses as being middle aged or old, a little rough around the edges and "butch." They told horrifying stories of personally experiencing bar raids in the Gay & Lesbian bars in Toledo - until only a few years earlier - and people being arrested just for being LGBT. In fact there was an old Lesbian bar in Toledo called "The Seahorse" - which had a history of having been raided. This was something already incomprehensible to those of us who came out in the mid-70s. I remember being shocked because I had just come out and it was the first time I had heard of the practice. I'm not sure if the seahorse symbol was a Midwestern thing or found across the US. Or perhaps it was localized to Toledo (and other port cities) since Toledo was an international port city on Lake Erie?? I note that the only other answer above is from someone in Baltimore which was also a port city.