The best part about Dan Savage to me is that he's just funny. I only recently discovered him and his videos, and there are tons of people with opinions all over the internet with videos. He's funny though, and infusing any point you have with humor is a good way to go. Especially when you're talking about society and culture and how some things shouldn't be such a big fucking deal.

ahhaa he just described ALL of church street.

I just finished reading his latest book American Savage. Gobbled it up in a day.

Smart and funny and yeah -- let's not make a big fucking deal out of differences between people.

I always thought the voice affectation was intentional as a social cue that the person was gay. Guess I learnt sumpin.

Yeah I have to admit. The whole voice thing is like the one thing that still kinda nags at me about homosexuality.

go nuts with the same sex thing... but WTF does the pitch of your voice have to do with homosexuality?

anyone know if what savage says is true or is he just speculating? I always assumed it was a sociological thing and a manifestation of counterculture and that it would eventually go away as gays are accepted and treated like everyone else

Um, what he's saying is quantified over and over again. Gay guys talking in a higher, more feminine voice, is nothing new and nothing special. It's the same reason straight women do. It's part of biology. Deep voice = masculinity while higher voice = femininity.

If the gay guy has been repressing himself to fit in with what society expects him to, he's probably learned to talk in a higher pitched voice against his natural urges. For instance, go talk to a baby or a little kid. Listen to what you do to your voice. Did someone teach you to do that? No. It's a natural instinct because we naturally find higher pitched voices less intimidating and more feminine.

Now, that's not to say all gay guys are feminine. Some are very masculine and would retain a deeper voice, only they find other guys attractive. Hell, they may still find a higher pitched voice attractive. Nothing strange, unusual or weird about it. It just happens.

In female to male gender transition, transgendered people often have voice changes with testosterone injections if they are younger. Their voice will drop, not unlike during puberty for men, although they may also choose to attend voice therapy to further 'pass' as a man.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_therapy_(transgender)

Anyhow, the sound of what is 'feminine' and 'masculine' are to a degree hormonal. It can be hormones delivered artificially, hormones exposed to during development that change the different aspects of the brain, a lot of the details are not well understood.

Theres a lot more to say, but I might be rambling. Jump on the googles if you're interested, maybe stumble on the Kinsey Institutes sex and gender research.

My understanding is that he's a bit off on at least some of his biology. When it comes to the ear, I believe he's referring to otoacoustic emissions.. However, if you note from the abstract I linked, it doesn't quite work that way. Yes, homosexual or bisexual females tend to have patterns of otoacoustic emissions with more masculine characteristics, however the same is not true for homosexual or bisexual males. While the results are insignificant, I'm told that the trend is in the opposite direction (that is, homosexual males have slightly "hyper masculinized" cochlea). These changes are often sloppily attributed to "genetic" differences. However, many theories suggest that it may have something to do with testosterone exposure in utero or during early development (though genetic mechanisms are possible in many circumstances).

With regard to the voice box, I dunno. I stick to sensory systems.

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