Originally designed as a way for men in the gay community to communicate sexual preferences in oppressive or even dangerous environments, the handerkerchief code has its roots in frontier culture where the scarcity of women led to social dances where handkerchiefs were worn to signal the role of male and female dancers.

Expanding on cruising cultural history, Spectrum Services is an audience-engagement performance that includes both sexual and gender non-conforming indices of identity in its code list of desires.