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My japanese speaking but not native friend talked about a foreign friend whose
name translates to "ばら" (bara - 薔薇) with some native japanese. They quickly
objected that she shouldn't call that friend ばら as this means "gay"
(homosexual) in japanese. I couldn't find any evidence for this and am curious
now. The only thing I found is that the first gay magazine is called
"barazoku" which could be shortened to "bara". Maybe becoming a synonym for
gay. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barazoku>

Is "ばら" an actual word with the meaning "gay"? Or is it just a common term? Or
is it just common in the LGBT community and most japanese would be clueless?
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question
word-choice words etymology homonyms
is there any evidence that ばら is commonly understood as gay
Yes 薔薇 implied gay several decades ago, and I believe most Japanese adults
were more or less aware of this in those days. It's no longer a common
metaphor.

Note that 薔薇 was argot for real gay relationship, if I understand correctly.
Fictional male-male romance enjoyed by female audience (still known as
[yaoi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoi_fandom) outside of Japan) has not
been referred to as 薔薇. See [this
article](http://www.paradisearmy.com/doujin/pasok2o.htm) for details.
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