Gay male speech

A gay lisp is a stereotypical speech attribute assigned in particular to gay males, who are purported to lisp. It is often characterized as a slightly high pitch with the 'S'-type sounds being slightly slurred and over-emphasized.

Several speech features are stereotyped as markers of gay male identity: careful pronunciation, wide pitch range, high and rapidly changing pitch, breathy tone, lengthened fricative sounds, and pronunciation of t as ts and d as dz. Some researchers report that North American gay men pronounce sibilants (s, z, sh, and the like) with assibilation -- more sibilation, hissing, or stridency. However, other demographic groups also use assibilation and many people speak with lisps.

A study by Rudolf Gaudio investigated claims that people can identify gay males by their speech and that these listeners use pitch range and fluctuation in deciding. Gaudio found that listeners could identify gay male speakers, but that there were no convincing differences in pitch. In a similar study of female speakers, Birch Moonwomon found listeners could not tell lesbian speakers from straight speakers.

Some analysts say gay people speak with an affected accent, as a way of signalling their identity and affiliation with the gay subculture. Still others suggest that the accent stems from marginalization or the practice of fellatio.

Many comedy sketches feature characters with the lisp. The ladies man on Saturday Night Live was an example of a character with a lisp but was not portrayed as gay.

External resources

• Encyclopedia article on "gay speak"
• Economist article on sounding gay