Lavender Marriage

<p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">A <b style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial;">lavender marriage is a male-female marriage in which one or both of the partners is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality" title="Homosexuality" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">homosexual</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisexuality" title="Bisexuality" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">bisexual</a>. The more general term is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed-orientation_marriage" title="Mixed-orientation marriage" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">mixed-orientation marriage</a>. It is a specialized instance of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_of_convenience" title="Marriage of convenience" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">marriage of convenience</a>, in which the marriage is formed for some reason other than the romantic attachment assumed to be the basis of modern marriages, for legal reasons involving inheritance or immigration, for example.<p style="margin: 0.5em 0px 1em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, "Nimbus Sans L", Arial, "Liberation Sans", sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">The partners in a lavender marriage were concealing the fact that the sexual orientation of at least one of them was not primarily <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterosexual" title="Heterosexual" class="mw-redirect" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">heterosexual</a>. The term lavender marriage dates from the early 20th century and is used almost exclusively to characterize certain marriages of public celebrities in the first half of the 20th century, primarily before World War II. At the time, public attitudes toward homosexuality made it impossible for a person to pursue a public career, notably in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood" title="Hollywood" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">Hollywood</a> film industry, while acknowledging homosexuality.<span class="mw-ref" id="cite_ref-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: 1; font-family: inherit; font-size: smaller; vertical-align: super; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/#cite_note-1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150); counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"></a> One of the earliest uses of the phrase appeared in the British press in 1895, at a time when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavender_(color)" title="Lavender (color)" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-weight: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; line-height: inherit; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; color: rgb(90, 54, 150);">lavender</a>was associated with homosexuality.