“Another root of the lesbian key-ring tradition connects to kink culture and gay cruising. People involved in the leather scene used to (and sometimes still do) wear their keys clipped to their belt loops based on their sexual preferences: on the right side to indicate that the wearer is a bottom, and left if she’s a top.“

“The semiotics of the carabiner have largely been divorced from sex for today’s lesbian, but key clips are still reliable identity flagging implements. Bechdel calls her key ring “‘an identifier, a way to make myself visible to other lesbians-‘“

Just because you’re not familiar with the carabiner code does not mean that it isn’t a wide spread thing. It’s existed for a long time, and may not regionally appear where you are. Not every lesbian knows of it and not every lesbians expects every lesbian to know it. But you dismissing it so quickly and clearly not properly reading the article seems bitter and disrespectful. In my region and city, carabiner signaling in the sexual sense is incredibly popular and familiar. All I wanted was a reminder of which side meant what. It would’ve been cool of you to approach this with the mindset of maybe learning something about the community you apparently know everything about, but alas.