While the dual meaning of "beard" that Klein plays with in this chapter may have been the inspiration for combining the motifs, I'm not sure I agree that there's a meaningful connection in that historic era between facial hair and the use of courtship scripts to bolster one's public identity. Both existed; it's the direct connection that feels anachronistic. And if the chronology of the term as detailed by Wikipedia is correct (not necessarily a given), then its use in the context of queer relationships is secondary even during its rise in 20th century use, and use for establishing transgender identity (as opposed to concealing homosexual orientation) doesn't seem to have been part of standard usage even then. (But the Wikipedia article is sparse and not well sourced, so I wouldn't necessarily rely on it for chronology and scope.)
But the use of public relationships to establish, conceal ,or distract from one's gender or sexuality has wide application across history. And the converse is also the case: the public incorrectly assuming they can determine someone's gender or sexuality based on the relationships they are known to engage in. In both cases, familiarity with an established framework or script for interpersonal relations is an essential pre-requisite. I mean, how could we cope if no assumptions could be made about how people interact in categorical ways?
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