The "gay ear" refers to the idea that wearing an earring in a specific ear may signal a person's sexual orientation. The common belief, which originated in the late 1970s, is that wearing an earring in the right ear signifies that a man is gay, while the left ear signifies that he is straight. However, this belief is not consistent and has varied over time and in different locations. It was a way for men to secretly communicate their sexuality, but it has fallen out of favor in more recent times, and the original phrase is no longer as prevalent. Today, the choice of which ear to pierce is not a reliable indicator of sexual orientation, and the "gay ear" has become less significant in the US