 Furthermore, Fitzhugh was known to be a lesbian, and the "Boy with the Purple Socks" character in the book may have been gay as the color purple is associated with the gay community.However, this was not confirmed as the boy later states his true name is Peter and he got lost in a crowd one day, and that his mother forced him to wear purple socks from that day forward as an immediate identifier to prevent future cases of getting lost.Harriet's friend Sport is not like 1960s gender norms, as he cooks and cleans in addition to taking care of other household tasks due to his absentee mother and stay-at-home father who is consumed with trying to get his novel published.