There are answers of what exactly a gay-sounding voice is. It’s tiny differences in pronunciations: clearer and longer vowels, longer ‘s’ and ‘l’ sounds, and the over-articulation of plosive consonants ‘p’, ‘t’, and ‘k’. Words and sentences, for many males, end on a lower, authoritative pitch. Men with “gay voice” take the end syllables of words and phrases up.

It’s a marvel of a thing, too, because, as George Takei points out, “there is no such thing as ‘sounding straight.’” Moreover, the speech patterns most often associated with “gay voice” aren’t exclusive to gay people.

Gay men with “gay voice” may have picked up these speech patterns, more commonly associated with women, by picking up cues and giving more weight to female speakers than male speakers while growing up. (Quelle surprise: gay men idolize strong women while coming of age.) However, straight men who grew up surrounded by females often exhibit many of the “gay voice” speech patterns as well.

There’s also that lisping thing that so many people associate with gayness.