[Bob L.]

I assume that what you mean by ‘gay accent’ is a certain speech pattern that may include lisping, effeminacy or exaggerated theatricality. I don’t know of any definitive answer, but it’s clear to me that the speech patterns you’re talking about aren’t really an accent – not a strong and continuous fixture of language usage – but a vocal mannerism or stylization that’s pretty much elective. Of the hundreds of gay men I’ve known, none affect this mannerism all the time, some use it occasionally for emphasis or humor, and most never use it at all.

I suspect it derives from a narrow but continuous gay urban subculture that’s been around for centuries in major cities. This subculture is what most heterosexuals think of when they think ‘gay,’ but in fact most gays go about their lives without ever taking part in or identifying with it. You probably don’t know that most of the gays you know are gay, for the simple reason that they don’t seem gay to you – don’t use that speech pattern, don’t dress very tastefully, don’t cook, like sports, are married or date girls, etc. – all those little markers that we assume divide gays from straights but actually don’t.

For a few gay men, it may be a fairly fixed habit of speech, but for most it’s ‘phony’ in the same sense that the speech mannerisms of rappers, preachers, truckers and game-show hosts are phony. They don’t have to speak that way, and most of the time they don’t. I think it’s rather different from, say, male locker-room talk about ‘babes’; most would never talk that way in front of their wives or mothers or kids, let alone their congregations, yet it’s hard to say whether their locker-room speech is ‘real’ and their cleaned-up speech is ‘phony’ or vice versa … and how can I take someone seriously if they speak with two different voices?

User Detail :  

Name : Bob L., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 48, City : Seattle, State : WA, Country : United States, Occupation : Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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