To a certain extent, the gay accent's a stereotype that can be used to mock gay people, but it certainly exists. You also hear other terms describing it-'upspeak,' 'nasality,' 'singsong pattern,' 'effeminate.' But plenty of gay men (probably including Pete Buttigieg) have never had 'gay' speech patterns.
Variability in pitch and crisp pronunciation of the letter 's' (sibilance) are normally associated with the gay accent. Many Southerners in the north say they talk more Southern when they return home. Lemon betrays no hint of what's known as the 'gay accent,' so you'd have to rely on other indications of his orientation, such as CNN announcing his engagement to boyfriend Tim Malone, after Malone had given him a dog collar reading, 'Daddy, Will You Marry Papa?'īy the rules of television, and by his own admission, Lemon's had to scrub his diction of any traces of both his sexuality and Southernness, but who knows what he sounds like when he’s partying at some place like Fire Island? Sharing a common speech pattern's a way to show solidarity with your group, whatever that group may be. Watching Don Lemon on CNN without knowing a thing about him, who would know that he's a gay man? He's well-groomed and put together, but so is every other TV anchor.
