A beard is defined as a woman who dates, or marries, a gay man to provide cover for the mans homosexuality. The term also applies to a man who does the same for a lesbian woman.

When someone is a beard?

A “beard” is an antiquated slang term for someone whose social presence serves to mask aspects of someone elses true self from the public. The beards most likely to be seen nowadays cover up the inconvenient, unpopular, or embarrassing identities of some who are too ashamed to own publically.