A Lavender Marriage is a term from the 20s/30s which refers to a marriage of convenience which would help hide an actor's true sexuality. Hollywood studios would often 'suggest' to their actors that they should marry other actors of the time to help stop tabloids and the public from finding out they were gay/lesbian (whilst also increasing the interest in both actors).
During the age of Hollywood, studios latched onto the idea of marrying their (assumed) closeted actors off, whether they wanted to be or not. They were called "lavender marriages," a sort of marital camouflage to throw people off the scent of what would have been in their eyes an unthinkable scandal.
There's no way to tell how many actors from early Hollywood were taking part in lavender marriages but there has certainly been lots of speculation since. If an actor went through numerous breakups or divorces then people would assume they were gay. One of the earliest speculated lavender marriages was that of Rudolph Valentino and Jean Acker. Valentino and his children have said this is simply not true throughout the years but it hasn't stopped people guessing. Rock Hudson is another famous example of this, he married Phyllis Gates for a few years before their divorce (Gates filled citing 'mental cruelty'). Hudson would years later come out as gay and was one of the first celebrities to disclose their AIDS status.
One actor who refused to take part in the concept of a lavender marriage was William Haines (pictured) who lived fairly openly (even having a partner) but as he gained popularity in Hollywood, MGM studios gave him an ultimatum. He either gets married to a woman or he will be dropped from the studio. Haines chose his partner over his career. He went on to create a successful interior design business with his partner and is now considered one of the first openly gay actors.
Thankfully lavender marriages are a thing of the past (as far as we know) but many actors still hide their sexualities today in fear of not getting work or upsetting their fan base.
I'm not a historian and everything I know is from reading various books or doing research online so if anything is incorrect please let me know and I will amend it. The QHere series is a way to educate and bring light to our Queer history telling the world have always been HERE. We have so many stories to tell and I want to help shine a light on them (whilst learn more myself).
