"I Sound Gay."

Many transwomen clients come to me with this complaint, but I have many clients who are happy to have this type of voice and speech style, because it appropriately expresses their femininity. There’s nothing wrong with a voice that has characteristics associated with gay men, but when you are a transwoman, then a gay man’s voice does not support your gender. 

Everyone has their own idea of the stereotypically “gay” voice, but what, exactly, makes a voice sound gay?

From an article by Daniel Villarreal, published on Queerty.com:

Researchers wrote that stereotypically “gay voices” in English-speaking men tend to have a higher pitch, wider pitch range, longer vowels, expanded vowel space, and a hissy “S” sound — all of which are perceived as more feminine and more submissive.

All these speech characteristics are widely considered to be more typical of cis female speakers.  In many instances, people who adopt more feminine styles of communication have had women as their role models.  Perhaps they were raised primarily by women or always had a special connection to girls and women in their youth.  Subtle differences in speech sounds are harder to consciously discern and measure. It stands to reason, though, that people who prefer a more feminine presentation would adopt these variations to speech and voice. 

Villarreal goes on to write:

In the 2014 documentary, Do I Sound Gay?, director David Thorpe said that gay voices also have typically over-exaggerated O sounds and hit final T sounds with more precision.  

I think Villarreal’s “over-exaggerated O” means the articulation of a precise, closed O that minimises the use of diphthong production.  (Think of the difference between the “Queen’s English” of Britain vs the drawl typical of speakers from the southern United States.)  Research indicates that cis women do articulate more precisely than cis men, hence more clearly articulated final endings of words are perceived to be a more feminine aspect of speech.

Personally, I perceive two further differences: a difference in speech rate and cadence and degree of breathiness. Most people who utilize a “gay voice” tend to introduce many more variations to pace of speech even within one sentence.  They more often oscillate between slower, longer word length (longer vowels) and fast-paced, clipped speech.  People who do not use a “gay voice” tend to speak with a more consistent speed and rhythm of speech.

I have noticed that many people who use a “gay voice” will create voice using a longer closed quotient of vocal fold vibration. This creates a sound that is strong and heavy on the vocal folds with little breathiness.  There is a distinct lack of gentleness to the vocal timbre.  This vocal quality is often mistaken to be nasality.  In my opinion, this is one of the most defining characteristics that distinguish “gay” voice from “female” voice.  And, it has been my experience that gay men typically do not adopt a breathy quality that is more characteristic of cis or trans women.

In contrast to my observations, a study by Suire, et al (2018) found homosexual French men had greater breathiness as well as greater pitch variation in the vocal signal than heterosexual French men, but no significant difference in overall pitch.

So, it’s all about finding the perfect blend of vocal characteristics.  Too much of one or too little of another may result in not-quite-the-perfect-voice for you.  Refining a voice is difficult, but it is worth paying attention to the nuanced details of speech and voice if you want to develop a voice that is truly congruent with your gender.