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

Contents:

• 'THE VOICE' HAS OPENLY GAY SGERS: WHERE ARE THEY ON 'AMERIN IDOL'?
•  THE VOICE SEASON 21 BLD DNS ROUND THREE BUBBA GAY SGER ARIANA GRA JOHN LEGEND TEAM BLAKE
• THE GAY VOICE
• WHAT'S THE LK BETWEEN HOMOSEXUALY AND HAVG A 'GAY VOICE'
• IS THERE A “GAY VOICE”?
• WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’
• WHO IS RYLEIGH MODIG? HERE'S WHY 'THE VOICE' FANS LOVE 18-YEAR-OLD SGER'S 'KELLY I'M GAY' STATEMENT
• MY GAY VOICE AND YOURS
• GAY VOICE
• MY GAY VOICE
• FILMMAKER AND SPEECH PATHOLOGIST WEIGH IN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO 'SOUND GAY'
• ‘THE VOICE’S’ ADAM LEVE SLAMS ‘AMERIN IDOL’ FOR ITS TREATMENT OF GAY PERFORMERS

'THE VOICE' HAS OPENLY GAY SGERS: WHERE ARE THEY ON 'AMERIN IDOL'?

"When I was younger I thought I was straight, bee I was more attracted to women, and I didn't know there were more optns bis Gay and Straight, " The Voice season 8 wner shared. THE VOICE -- "Bld Audns" Episo 2303 -- Pictured: (l-r) Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, Chance The Rapper, Niall Horan -- (Photo by: Evans Vtal Ward/NBC) NBC’s The Voice has only aired two episos, but already viewers have heard somethg that viewers have probably never heard on Fox’s Amerin Idol: “I’m gay.

While there have been gay Idol nttants, most famoly Adam Lambert and Clay Aiken, they’ve eher publicly acknowledged their sexual orientatn after their rpective seasons nclud, or that aspect of their inty was ignored on the show self. In fact, out of hundreds of nttants that have appeared on TV’s biggt seri over 10 years, openly gay portrayals are eher nonexistent (nobody ntacted for this story uld remember one), or at bt, extremely rare, let alone numbers like The Voice has picted s first two weeks.

 THE VOICE SEASON 21 BLD DNS ROUND THREE BUBBA GAY SGER ARIANA GRA JOHN LEGEND TEAM BLAKE

This isn’t to suggt Idol and/or Fox is secretly enforcg a closeted agenda — producers hired the openly gay Ellen DeGener as a judge and Fox airs Glee, perhaps the most gay-iendly drama on broadst. When craftg The Voice, executive producer Mark Burt said the choice to prent sgers’ sexual orientatn was discsed, and said he was surprised havg openly gay sgers wasn’t already faiar terrory on Idol.

“It didn’t cross my md to do anythg but be thentic, ” said Burt, whose first season of CBS’ Survivor was not only groundbreakg realy TV, but also featured an openly gay nttant, Richard Hatch, who won the petn. ” It uld simply be a difference of productn style: That producers on Idol, as Fox’s statement suggts, don’t thk sexual orientatn is relevant to a sgg petn and so they don’t really see a reason to go there wh nttants (“I don’t re if a sger is gay! (Lambert, who like several Idol nttants was wily prumed gay durg the ntt, said after he me out, “I wanted the foc to be on my abily as a sger and as an entertaer — not on my private life.

Ironilly, after prentg four openly gay nttants across two episos, the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn nounced The Voice bee ach Blake Shelton tweeted what some terpreted as a homophobic song lyric. ) Asked about this matter, GLAAD Print Jarrett Barrs told EW: “Wh more and more Amerins embracg openly gay sgers like Adam Lambert, Idol voters would clearly support a talented openly gay nttant if given the chance today.

THE GAY VOICE

If Amerin Idol expects to ntue leadg the ratgs, Idol producers should regnize that posive gay cln on televisn not only fosters acceptance but, as evinced by the populary of shows like The Voice and Glee, is a smart programmg move.

Here’s a clip of Tyler Robson, one of the openly gay The Voice nttants om last week: Episo Reps THE VOICE -- "Bld Audns" Episo 2303 -- Pictured: Niall Horan -- (Photo by: Evans Vtal Ward/NBC) S23 E3 Rep The Voice nttant lands on Niall Horan's team thanks to a Harry Styl song By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Fale, Part 2” Episo 2220B -- Pictured: (l-r) John Legend, Gwen Stefani, Caa Cabello, Blake Shelton -- (Photo by: Nile Wegart/NBC) S22 E25 Rep The Voice fale rep: A new wner is crowned By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- Live Fale, Part 1 Episo 2220A -- Pictured: Omar Jose Cardona -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E24 Rep The Voice rep: The top five sg for the w By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- Live Semi-Fal Top 8 Elimatns Episo 2219B -- Pictured: John Legend -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E23 Rep The Voice rep: Meet your season 22 falists By Maggie Fremont Blake Shelton, John Legend, Gwen Stefani, and Caa Cabello on 'The Voice' S22 E22 Rep The Voice rep: The Top 8 pair up for Whney Hoton duets the semifals By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Top 10 Elimatns” Episo 2218AB -- Pictured: (l-r) Omar Jose Cardona, Kim Cise, John Legend, Parija Bastola -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E21 Rep The Voice rep: A Team Legend sger ws the Instant Save Round to make the Top 8 By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Top 10 Performanc” Episo 2218A -- Pictured: (l-r) John Legend, Gwen Stefani -- (Photo by: Casey Durk/NBC) S22 E20 Rep The Voice rep: Live top 10 performanc By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Top 13 Elimatns” Episo 2217B -- Pictured: (l-r) Bodie, Bryce Leatherwood, Rowan Grace, Brayn Lapen, Man Myl, Devix, Eric Who, Alyssa Wrado, Jt Aaron, Kique, Kim Cse, Omar Jose Cardona, Parija Bastola -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E19 Rep The Voice rep: Live Top 13 elimatns By Maggie Fremont The Voice S22 E18 Rep The Voice rep: Watch the top 13 perform songs that 'changed their liv' By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Top 16 Performanc” Episo 2216B -- Pictured: (l-r) John Legend, Gwen Stefani -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E17 Rep The Voice rep: The ach face a tough cisn to reach the top 13 By Maggie Fremont The Voice -- “Live Top 16 Performanc” Episo 2216A -- Pictured: Katie Kalvach -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E16 Rep The Voice rep: The top 16 go live for the first time By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- "Knockout Rounds" Episo 2214 -- Pictured: John Legend -- (Photo by: Tyler Goln/NBC) S22 E14 Rep The Voice rep: John Legend and Caa Cabello battle for a top Team Blake artist By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- "The Knockouts Premiere" Episo 2213 -- Pictured: (l-r) Gwen Stefani, Caa Cabello, John Legend, Blake Shelton -- (Photo by: Tyler Goln/NBC) S22 E13 Rep The Voice rep: Wele to the season of 3-way knockouts By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE S22 E12 Rep The Voice rep: The Battl e to a close By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- "The Battl Part 2" Episo 2209 -- Pictured: John Legend -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E10 Rep The Voice rep: John Legend has to e his 'save' tonight's battle By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- "Battle Rounds" Episo 2208 -- Pictured: (l-r) Caa Cabello, Blake Shelton -- (Photo by: Trae Patton/NBC) S22 E9 Rep The Voice rep: Blake Shelton steals one of Gwen Stefani's would-be sav By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- "The Bld Audns, Part 7" Episo 2207 -- Pictured: Steven McMorran -- (Photo by: Ta Thorpe/NBC)THE VOICE -- "Bld Audns" Episo TBD -- Pictured: Man Myl -- (Photo by: Ta Thorpe/NBC) S22 E8 Rep The Voice rep: The Battl are on — and one ach don't hate to e their 'save' By Maggie Fremont Gwen Stefani, Caa Cabello, and Blake Shelton on 'The Voice' S22 E6 Rep The Voice rep: The ach get picky as the Blds beg to wd down By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- “The Bld Audns Season Premiere” Episo 2201 -- Pictured: Gwen Stefani -- (Photo by: Tyler Goln/NBC) S22 E5 Rep The Voice rep: Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani put their marriage to the tt as bld dns ntue By Maggie Fremont THE VOICE -- “The Bld Audns, Part 3” Episo 2203 -- Pictured: John Legend -- (Photo by: Tyler Goln/NBC) S22 E4 Rep The Voice rep: Did John Legend jt pick up a rger for the fals? After intifyg phoic characteristics that seem to make a man’s voice sound gay, their bt hunch is that some gay men may subnscly adopt certa female speech patterns. Stay ahead of the trend fashn and beyond wh our ee weekly Liftyle Ed newsletterStay ahead of the trend fashn and beyond wh our ee weekly Liftyle Ed newsletter After a particularly bad break-up, David Thorpe, a journalist who’s his forti, cid to take his md off thgs by leavg his ts his Manhattan apartment and drowng his sorrows at a gay beach town on Fire Island.

”It was the start of a four-year journey of self-disvery durg which Thorpe tried to figure out his so-lled “gay voice”: when did he start talkg that way, what ed , how exactly did sound, and, fally, what was so wrong wh anyway? The rults n be seen his new documentary, Do I Sound Gay?, which featur terviews wh lguists, amics, fay and iends, as well as a number of high-profile personali, cludg David Sedaris and Dan Savage. Another expert that he terviews for the film is a Canadian lguist who studi vol microvariatns between gay and straight men and speculat that many gay men more readily pick up speech s om women.

WHAT'S THE LK BETWEEN HOMOSEXUALY AND HAVG A 'GAY VOICE'

Intertgly, a straight iend of Thorpe’s has what is nsired to be an archetypal “gay voice” and turns that out he was raised entirely by women at an ashram. When he was younger, Thorpe not, the only “gay voic” on televisn were those belongg to figur such as Liberace and Charl Nelson Reilly, the host of The Match Game.

He also wonrs if Disney villas such as Aladd’s Jafar and The Ln Kg’s Sr, wh their soft, threateng voic, have ma young people associate soundg gay wh beg evil. “Growg up, I was always told that what was wrong wh me was that I was gay, so ’s not hard to unrstand that a moment of vulnerabily I might also feel secure about my sexualy.

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. 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. 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).

“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. 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.

WHAT MEANS TO ‘SOUND GAY’

It rais a plited discsn about gay pri, lgerg homophobia, disguised misogyny, and the extent to which we all alter the image that we prent to the the film begs, Thorpe is disturbed bee he realiz he don’t like his voice any more.

He rri out thoughtful nversatns wh his iends and proment gay and lbian figur – cludg Gee Takei, David Sedaris, Dan Savage, Margaret Cho and Don Lemon – about what means to “sound gay. But so dog, v everyone to thk about what their own voice says about who they are, where they me om, and where they want to science of “the gay voice”To start wh, the stereotypil “gay voice” isn’t necsarily a study published 2003, Ron Smyth, a lguist at the Universy of Toronto, found that participants readily separated rerdgs of 25 diverse voic to those who “sound gay” and those who “sound straight.

In Smyth's study, people rrectly gused a man’s sexualy about 60 percent of the time, only a ltle better than another small study at the Universy of Hawaii, both gay and straight listeners were equally as likely to misclassify people as gay or straight.

WHO IS RYLEIGH MODIG? HERE'S WHY 'THE VOICE' FANS LOVE 18-YEAR-OLD SGER'S 'KELLY I'M GAY' STATEMENT

In fact, the straight men wh so-lled gay voic weren't aware that people thought they sound gay at turns out that what most people perceive as a stereotypil "gay voice" is jt a male voice that sounds more stereotypilly feme -- maly, higher pched and more melod.

And that often has more to do wh the voic that a person intified wh as they grew up, rather than and other rearchers say some men, both gay and straight, velop more feme voic bee they are fluenced by women when they are young.

If you've ever found yourself talkg to someone wh a different accent and gradually emulatg them, you're faiar wh the gay men, adoptg what's lled "mp" -- a theatril gay accent, like an old-school starlet -- n be a way of embracg their inty.

MY GAY VOICE AND YOURS

“As a hly mted gay man, I learned how mpg up uld be liberatg, ” Thorpe says the there may be more subtle ways that sexualy and our sense of self fluence our voic. Benjam Munson, who studi language and speech at the Universy of Mnota, found one study that gay men did e a slightly different pronunciatn than straight men.

However, the difference wasn’t the stereotypil “gay voice, ” but a tenncy to e a more ntemporary, pan-Amerin accent, rather than the old-fashned Mnota accent (like  the movie “Fargo") says that the gay men he terviewed may have wanted to nvey an inty that is more stylish and cuttg edge. “As speakers of a language, we have lots of eedom how we pronounce sounds … People explo that variatn to create different social meangs, " he those who are proud n still feel stigma“Do I Sound Gay?

GAY VOICE

” shows that even men who are out and proud may still rry wh them some shame about havg a stereotypil “gay voice, ” even if those feelgs are Savage, a gay activist and thor, argu  the film that this is a natural nsequence of boys beg bullied for walkg and talkg a certa way when they are young. As Thorpe pots out the film, there have long been public entertaers or artists wh stereotypilly “gay voic” – Liberace or Tman Capote, for example -- but few people openly talked about their when characters wh “gay” mannerisms or voic appeared popular culture, they were sometim d wh negative or sid the 1940s on, Amerin film saw the rise of a sni, supercil, and vaguely gay villa, startg wh the manipulative Clifton Webb the tective noir film “Lra. ” That tradn of the effete, aristocratic villa has lived example, film historian Richard Barrs argu  the film that many of the Disney villas have simperg voic or mannerisms that are subtly – or not so subtly – stereotypilly gay, cludg Prce John "Rob Hood, " Sr "The Ln Kg, " and many more, In an terview, Thorpe poted out what he viewed as one particularly egreg example – the bad guy the 2012 Disney animated film “Wreck-It Ralph.

He pots to Hollywood's proment “gaylebri, ” like Jse Tyler Fergon and Neil Patrick Harris, and young gay YouTube stars like Tyler Oakley, Kgsley and Lohanthony. "We are pneers our time changg societal perceptn of what means to be gay, ” Gee Takei, who played Sulu "Star Trek, " says the homophobia still affects Hollywood. Many actors work to make their voic sound mascule: In the film, Bob Corff, a Hollywood voice ach who Thorpe viss, says 20 to 50 people a year e to him to sound "ls gay.

) But 99% of the time the magic would fa once I was st, revealg me to be a guy who uld ocsnally hi behd a ep voice, but who generally prented as “gay.

MY GAY VOICE

For stance, a classmate om nservatory--who ed to tease me about my effemate mannerisms, BTW--was eventually st as a gay activist a big award-wng movie, based on a big award-wng play, about gay liv. Though some gay actors are effectively creatg their own opportuni to play a variety of rol (gay, straight, mascule, feme, and everythg between), such as the makers of the entertag seri East Sirs.

But even though I chose not to ntue swimmg upstream toward a full time actg reer, I also somehow knew not to dismiss myself for beg “too gay” or too genr nonnformg. I put together a short documentary about how actors--pecially men, whether they are gay or straight--are nsired by stg directors to have failed the send they “sound gay” (meang their voice do not nform to heteronormative stereotyp of masculy). ” Thorpe asks everyone he knows--cludg queer celebri, like Savage, as well as iends, fay, and profsnal speech ach--where they thk “gay voice” om and how he n change his own.

Thorpe provis myriad hypothis for where this hatred riv om and asks to qutn why any one of (gay or straight) reflexively police genr nonnformy one another’s voic. As long as there is an unchecked cultural phobia of “gay voic, ” --by which we really jt mean effemate male voic--we are all nmned to a PTSD-like state of hypervigilance, too aaid to blur the l of genr, our voic or any other area of our liv.

FILMMAKER AND SPEECH PATHOLOGIST WEIGH IN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO 'SOUND GAY'

Which brgs to the pot that our fear of soundg what we ll “gay” or “effemate” is not only about genr exprsn, but more signifintly about our cultural ias about weakns and power.

‘THE VOICE’S’ ADAM LEVE SLAMS ‘AMERIN IDOL’ FOR ITS TREATMENT OF GAY PERFORMERS

Their tips are ls about genr and more about how people n create sounds their bodi that nnote thory, whether they are female, male, or trans, straight or gay. By havg women, as well as men, leadg rol that exhib facets of power, weakns, toughns and vulnerabily, we n unrstand the human ndn beyond male or female, mascule or feme, gay or straight. Stephen Pieters, HIV survivor and gay activist, di at 7003:35Married thors share spirg love story: ‘I feel so lucky’TODAY04:29LGBTQ+ llege athlet talk breakg barriers, beg embracedTODAY04:10Archer aims to make the sport accsible to LGBTQ+ munyTODAY05:50Unpackg Anti-LGBTQ+ Rhetoric Followg The Rpect for Marriage Act PassageSymone25:03Rebel Wilson opens up about same-sex relatnship, motherhood and takg on a dramatic roleTODAY00:32Lawmakers on both sis of the aisle vote to pass Marriage ActTODAY08:04Discsg Polil Vlence Agast the LGBTQ+ CommunySymone04:40How one woman’s g out helped her fay realize their tthTODAY04:10‘Bros’ stars talk ‘excg’ release of historic romTODAYMore storiMicMicDavid Archuleta on 15 years of ‘Csh’ and g out: ‘I am the happit I’ve been'The "Amerin Idol" nner-up tells how his life changed sce publicly g out 2021, startg wh the way he sgs his first h song.

So gay male culture mands that we be able to blend to the wallpaper when we need to, but also that we be pable of makg ourselv very known other suatns. Gay people so often fear other gay voic, voic we nnot ntrol reprentg our shared experienc and world, but bee so much is unsaid, we also hunger for our world to be scribed wh granur, wh men don’t like art about beg gay.

” So many gay men love leral mirrors, bee a mirror (or Instagram acunt), you are simply an image that n be groomed to distguishabily om straightns. " In his new film, Do I Sound Gay?, Thorpe search for the orig of that stereotype and documents his own attempts to sound "ls gay" by workg wh speech pathologist San Sank. At the same time, I totally get that when I me out, I wanted to be regnized as gay; I wanted the world to know I was gay and I wanted to f to this existg muny, so I thk my voice really did change after I me out.