Is There a “Gay Voice”? | The New Yorker

Contents:

• IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?
• THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH
• DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?
• WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE
• THIS GAY NGRSMAN JT BLASTED HIS LLEAGU A FIERY SPEECH AND THE TER IS L
• GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
• A FLORIDA CLASS PRINT ULDN’T DISCS BEG GAY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATN SPEECH – SO HE TALKED ABOUT HIS CURLY HAIR
• GAY RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?

Not long after Thorpe broke up wh his boyiend, he began thkg about the way he speaks, and the way other gay men speak, and why both sudnly bothered him so much. He terviews gay public figur, cludg David Sedaris, Tim Gunn, Don Lemon, and Gee Takei, who have had to listen to themselv for a livg.

Gay adolcents, Thorpe pots out, often learn that the “tell” of their sexualy is their voic, even more so than physily—a limp wrist is easier to straighten out than an flectn. Even wh the gay datg muny (and gay porn), hyper-masculy is habually prized, so self-disgt gets easily turned back outward.

Thorpe talks to a straight iend who sounds “gay” (he grew up on an ashram, surround by women), and a gay iend who sounds “straight” (he has jock brothers). Obvly, the ncln—the film’s, and me—is to dissociate the “gay voice” om shame and reattach to pri, but isn’t so easy. “For many gay men, that’s the last vtige, that’s the last chunk of ternalized homophobia, is this hatred of how they sound, ” Dan Savage tells Thorpe.

THE SOLUTN TO "GAY" INSULTS: FREEDOM OF SPEECH

One of the ways gay people tend to pensate, the film suggts, is to adopt the supercil speech patterns of the leisure class, i. The CNN anchor Don Lemon tells Thorpe that he worked harr to ntralize his Southern black accent than his “gay” accent. As gays and lbians ga cultural pal, helped along by equaly victori like the one jt hand down by the Supreme Court, “gay voice” will surely evolve, too.

There was a recent high profile story the news about an 11-year-old boy who mted suici, apparently bee he uld no longer tolerate beg lled “gay. Many anti-bully activists sist that anti-bully laws should specifilly mentn sults agast gays and those of non-heterosexual orientns. If be a crime to sult people, then, is hoped, no one will be attacked wh the “gay” sult, and the associated vlence will disappear.

One of the problems wh makg illegal to ll someone “gay” is that vlat the First Amendment right to Freedom of Speech. If people get punished for sultg gays, do you thk they are gog to thk, “Now I rpect gays so much bee I was punished”? If we go to school together, are the same class, and I always treat you this way, you may even bee my iend even though you hate gays.

DO FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL VLATE THE FIRST AMENDMENT?

They may not know their own te sexual orientatn yet, and they may not even know the sexual meang of the word “gay. Qutns have been raised as to whether Florida’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” bill vlat the First Amendment rights of teachers and stunts public primary schools the state. But Calvert warned of a very likely “chillg effect, ” where teachers would be cled to censor themselv over fear of retributn om parents, who unr the bill would be granted greater thory to sue school districts believed to be vlatn of “Don’t Say Gay.

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA supposed requt for a webse for a same-sex weddg played a mor role a major clash between ee speech and gay rights at the Supreme Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex Jiang for The New York TimAfter the Supreme Court led last week that a Colorado graphic signer has the right to refe to create webs for same-sex marriag, crics of the cisn raised qutns about a form clud urt papers the se that appeared to show that a gay uple had sought the servic of the signer, Lorie man who supposedly submted the form said he was unaware of s existence until a reporter for The New Republic lled him.

More about Adam LiptakA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 12 of the New York edn wh the headle: Crics Are Qutng a Seemgly Fake Document a Recent Gay Rights Case. Pon, who’s gay and reprents Wisns’s 2nd ngrsnal district, told a personal story about bigotry he’s faced as a gay man. “Or the time when I wasn’t out yet, left a gay bar, and two people followed me and beat me wh a baseball bat until I was bloodied and unnsc and lled me a f*****?

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT A SEEMGLY FAKE DOCUMENT A GAY RIGHTS CASE

ImageLorie Smh said her Christian fah requir her to turn away ctomers seekg servic to celebrate same-sex Woolf for The New York TimThe Supreme Court sid on Friday wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to sign weddg webs for same-sex upl spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people.

’”The se, though amed as a clash between ee speech and gay rights, was the latt a seri of cisns favor of relig people and groups, notably nservative cisn also appeared to suggt that the rights of L. The liberal jtic viewed as somethg else entirely — a dispute that threatened societal protectns for gay rights and rolled back some recent an impassned dissent, Jtice Sonia Sotomayor warned that the oute signaled a return to a time when people of lor and other mory groups faced open discrimatn. ”A Colorado law forbids discrimatn agast gay people by bs open to the public as well as statements announcg such discrimatn.

Kavangh and Amy Coney Barrett, shifted the urt to the urts have generally sid wh gay and lbian upl who were refed service by bakeri, florists and others, lg that potential ctomers are entled to equal treatment, at least parts of the untry wh laws forbiddg discrimatn based on sexual owners of bs challengg those laws have argued that the ernment should not force them to choose between the requirements of their fahs and their livelihoods. A baker refed to make a weddg ke for their receptn on relig Cote for The New York TimHad there been an actual gay person who was refed a weddg-related service at the center of 303 Creative L. Dale that the anizatn uld exclu gay sutmasters bee opposn to homosexualy is part of the anizatn’s “exprsive msage.

THIS GAY NGRSMAN JT BLASTED HIS LLEAGU A FIERY SPEECH AND THE TER IS L

Irish-Amerin Gay, Lbian and Bisexual Group of Boston, Inc., a se om 1995 which the urt sid wh the anizers of a veterans para that blocked a group of gay, lbian and bisexual people om marchg the event. Jtice Sotomayor seemed pecially ncerned about the way the urt’s opn would send a disapprovg msage to the public about people who are gay, lbian, bisexual or transgenr, or who were same-sex relatnships.

Addnally, several stat terpret existg laws agast sex discrimatn to apply to bias relatg to sexual orientatn and genr inty, even though they do not have laws explicly forbiddg such stat that do not offer protectns to gay and transgenr people on those grounds, municipal laws ver many Human Rights Campaign, an L.

GAY RIGHTS VS. FREE SPEECHSUPREME COURT BACKS WEB DIGNER OPPOSED TO SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

McCoy for The New York TimThe urt’s cisn favor of a Colorado web signer, Lorie Smh, had an unual feature: It was based on njecture and Smh, who objects to providg weddg-related servic for same-sex marriag, never turned down a gay uple.

ETFriday’s lg was another reassurg cisn for relig celebratory moment outsi the Supreme Court on Friday, after the urt livered the latt a strg of judgments favor of relig Zuhaib/Associated PrsConservativ who have moral and theologil objectns to gay marriage saw the Supreme Court’s cisn on Friday as reassurance that they would be able to assert their beliefs a public square that they see as creasgly hostile to a 6-to-3 vote, spl along iologil l, the jtic agreed wh a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, spe a state law that forbids discrimatn agast gay people.

A FLORIDA CLASS PRINT ULDN’T DISCS BEG GAY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATN SPEECH – SO HE TALKED ABOUT HIS CURLY HAIR

”Acrdg to pollg om 2021 by the Public Relign Rearch Instute, majori of most major relig groups — cludg Catholics, Jews and Mlims — oppose allowg small-bs owners to refe to serve gay and lbian people on relig grounds. Smh and her lawyers have emphasized that her objectn is not to workg wh same-sex upl or gay dividuals, but to signg webs for gay weddgs.

Several siar s have centered on nservative Christian small bs owners who object to workg on gay weddgs specifilly, cludg a baker Colorado, two vatn signers Arizona and a Kentucky-based a news nference shortly after the lg was issued, Krist Waggoner, general unsel for Alliance Defendg Freedom, which reprented Ms. ” She said her nsiratn acceptg work as a webse signer was the “msage” of the se, not the inty of the Smh’s portfol clus webs for church, real tate pani and polil many nservative Christians hailed the cisn on Friday, drew cricism om some progrsive Christians and terfah groups, cludg those that serve gay people of fah. “Broad exemptns to allow relig-based discrimatn hurts people of fah, too, ” Francis DeBernardo, executive director of New Ways Mistry, which advot for gay Catholics, said a statement.

GAY RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH

McCoy for The New York TimGay and transgenr rights anizatns on Friday nmned the Supreme Court lg backg a Colorado webse signer’s bid to refe to provi servic for same-sex marriag, llg the cisn a dangero backslidg on L. ETHere’s how urt battl over servg same-sex upl have played out the Cote for The New York TimIn the latt se volvg same-sex marriage rights, relig eedom and discrimatn, the Supreme Court on Friday led favor of a web signer Colorado who said she had a First Amendment right not to provi servic for same-sex marriag spe a state law that bans discrimatn agast gay ’s a brief look at some of the most proment s before Friday’s:A Colorado baker ws urtIn June 2018, the Supreme Court led favor of a Colorado baker who refed to bake a weddg ke for a gay uple. Kennedy wrote that the missn’s members had acted wh “clear and impermissible hostily” to people wh scerely held relig Bra, a kemaker prevailsBra’s Supreme Court led favor of a bakery October 2018 that had refed to make a ke bearg the slogan “Support Gay Marriage, ” sayg the refal was not discrimatory.