History Main / TheBeard

* In ''WebVideo/VampireReviews'', [[VampireVannabe Maven]] is unamused by ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula'' naming Main/{{Dracula}}'s dead wife "[[Literature/{{Carmilla}} Carmilla Karnstein]]", because she's one of literature's most famous {{Lesbian Vampire}}s.

->''"Have you ever heard about the term 'beards'? It is when a gay man and woman date each other in order to hide the fact that they are gay. Like the Roosevelts. So you and I are going to be each other's beards. Then we are going to win Prom King--and Queen and rule the school."''

* In ''Webcomic/WelcomeToRoom305'':

* In ''Webvideo/VampireReviews,'' [[VampireVannabe Maven]] is unamused by ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula'' naming Main/{{Dracula}}'s dead wife "[[Literature/{{Carmilla}} Carmilla Karnstein]]," because she's one of literature's most famous {{Lesbian Vampire}}s.
-->"So, Dracula, [[AndThenWhat what are you gonna do]] once you have Carmilla back, besides be her beard?"

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'':

Though the term "beard" is more commonly used to refer to a woman "dating" a gay man [[note]]In the context of fake relationships, "beard" has also been used to refer to someone used to cover for an affair, as in ''Film/BroadwayDannyRose'', though the sexuality-related meaning is much more common[[/note]], the trope can be used for "cover" relationships of LGBT men and women. A man dated by a lesbian to make her appear straight is known as "a frock" in British English. A frock makes a woman appear feminine much as [[ManlyFacialHair a beard makes a man appear masculine]].

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16932832990.62755300 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': In ''The Hutt Gambit'', one of Bria Tharen's cover identities becomes TheMistress to Moff Sarn Shild to spy on him for the Rebels. The narration mentions [[PlatonicProstitution their relationship is only for public life and doesn't extend to the bedroom]], since Shild isn't interested in human females. (It's unclear in context whether the author meant that Shild preferred men or nonhumans: the Galactic Empire is a human-supremacist state in ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'' and {{Interspecies Romance}}s got guff from Imperials in other works, but the Imperial attitude to homosexuality was never established.)* ''Literature/TheInheritanceGames'': Thea and Xander pretended to be in a relationship to hide the fact that [[spoiler:Thea was actually dating Rebecca.]]

* ''Literature/TheHanSoloTrilogy'': As part of her work with the Corellian Resistance, Bria serves as an anthroposexual beard to Moff Sarn Shild (under a false name), since his sexual tastes aren't for human females (it is implied he likes members of other species, which the [[FantasticRacism speciesist]] Empire he serves wouldn't tolerate).
* ''Literature/TheInheritanceGames'': Thea and Xander pretended to be in a relationship to hide the fact that [[spoiler:Thea was actually dating Rebecca.]]

* ''Series/MissScarletAndTheDuke'': A subplot in season 1 has Eliza's landlady Ms. Parker [[ArrangedMarriage trying to marry off her son Rupert]], first to Eliza herself, then eventually to another woman. Eliza learns during an investigation that Rupert is gay (which was illegal in Victorian England), so she would have been his beard, as is the German gentlewoman he ultimately marries.

* ''Film/AllAboutE'': E pretends Matt, her CampGay best friend, is her husband when she visits her parents. He has to butch it up significantly so this is plausible.

* ''Series/OneOfUsIsLying'': Keely willing pretends she's Cooper's girlfriend to cover up that he's gay, as they're best friends.

* ''{{Series/Whitechapel}}'': {{Inverted}}. [[spoiler:Jimmy Kray's "boyfriend" later gets revealed to be a cross-dressing girl who pretends she's male so that he can come off as a {{gayngster}} like his alleged father Reggie Kray.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Alfie}}'': Vera Tolman, nee Brooker, ended up as one when she and her friend Derek had sex (on his part mainly to figure out what the big deal was) before she set out to see the world, only to realize she had fallen pregnant and return home rather than risk wandering the about alone in her condition. Derek promptly [[ShotgunWedding did the Right Thing]] over the objections of his family ("She's a ''[[LowerClassLout Brooker]]''!") and despite his having entered into a clandestine relationship with a fellow named Bernard in the interim (which Vera discovered the hard way after the fact). So, the tale begins with a bitter, resentful, rage-filled, and yes [[SexlessMarriage frustrated]] middle-aged deuteragonist wondering why her twenty-one-year-old daughter is so distracted over the recently arrived caravan.

* ''Series/BetterThings'': Frankie serves as the date to her gay, closeted friend so his parents won't find out.

* The [[http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/01/22/i-paid-25-for-an-invisible-boyfriend-and-i-think-i-might-be-in-love/ "Invisible Boyfriend."]]

[[folder:Web Original]]

* In ''Webvideo/VampireReviews,'' [[VampireVannabe Maven]] is unamused by ''WesternAnimation/TheBatmanVsDracula'' naming Main/{{Dracula}}'s dead wife "[[Literature/{{Carmilla}} Carmilla Karnstein]]," because she's one of literature's most famous {{Lesbian Vampire}}s.
-->"So, Dracula, [[AndThenWhat what are you gonna do]] once you have Carmilla back, besides be her beard?"

* ''Literature/DecadesOfDarkness'': LipstickLesbian Julia Gordon has a husband who's gay himself. They even have a child together (it's set in the 19th century).

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': At SuperHeroSchool Whateley Academy, Bladedancer (once male, now female against his will) has a girlfriend, but accepts a date with Chain Lightning so no one will realize that Bladedancer likes other girls. Only problem? Chain Lightning really likes her, and she finds that she likes him. Fortunately for everyone, her girlfriend, Molly, does too, which lead to them adopting {{Polyamory}} and [[ComingOutStory going public with the relationships]].

** Colonel Gentleman was married and had a daughter, Dr. Quinn but never showed any sexual interest in his wife and neither did she in him.

* ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' After Dale's wedding, his dad Bug was flirting with an attractive Filipino caterer when Dale entered the room. He quickly grabbed, in his own words, "the nearest thing in a dress"--which happened to be the bride, Nancy. Twenty years of estrangement followed.

** Silk Spectre (the original one, not [[LegacyCharacter her daughter]]) is the beard for [[spoiler:Hooded Justice]], though only mentioned in the comics.

* ''ComicBook/ExMachina'': When Mayor Hundred announces his support for gay marriage the night after a date, she assumes he's just using her as a beard. At the end of the arc he attempts to mend fences, and admits to Suzanne he might have had ''some'' ulterior motives for going out with her. Hundred remains effectively MarriedToTheJob and dismisses questions about his sexuality as unimportant.