2: Documentary trailer, David Thorpe’s "Do I Sound Gay," 2014.

2: Documentary trailer, David Thorpe’s "Do I Sound Gay," 2014.

Do I Sound Gay? is a 2014 documentary film produced by and starring David Thorpe as he explores the speech patterns of gay men and delves into the mystery of his personal history and voice. The film is part autobiographical and part analytical in its attempt to understand the nuances of gay identity, stereotypes, and culture. Exploring questions of bullying, harassment, and internalized homophobia, Thorpe attempts to reconcile his own story with the ubiquitous narrative of a “gay voice” that is threaded throughout the dominant American culture.
 
Suggested Activity: Before watching the documentary trailer, ask students to write short reflections on each of the following questions (note that their answers won’t be collected and that no one will be put on the spot to share):  
  • Do you make assumptions about whether a man is gay or straight based on his voice?
  • Is it ok to make this kind of assumption? Is it possible that your assumptions are sometimes wrong?
  • What kind of voice sounds gay to you? What kind of voice sounds straight?
  • What associations do you have with each of these different voices, in terms of personality and attributes?
  • Do you have any theories about why the notion of a gay voice exists?
Then watch the trailer together as a class. Ask students to discuss the following:
  • What does this film appear to be about?
  • What questions is the filmmaker and subject of the film, David Thorpe, asking? 
  • Based on the trailer, what different theories does Thorpe seem to be positing about “gay voice”?
Then revisit sam sax’s poem “Lisp” with particular attention to lines 6–13, which directly address the notion of the lisp as part of the “homosexual mystique” and sax’s personal experience with seeing a speech pathologist. As a class, discuss the question of “gay voice” from the poet’s perspective. What experience is he describing? What does sax suggest when he writes “i was / schooled / practiced silence”? Why does he describe his voice as “sap in the high branches” and “a spoonful of sugared / semen”? What do these references say about the poet’s perspective of the nature and quality of a "gay voice"?
 
The speaker says, “i licked silk when i spoke / i spilt milk when i sang.” Some speech pathologists will ask patients to practice licking sticky substances like peanut butter from the corners of their mouths as an exercise in tongue lateralization (moving the tongue from side to side). What do you make about the allusion to silk and licking? What significance does sax’s reference to the English idiom “don’t cry over spilt milk” have on your understanding of this line?

Source: David Thorpe, "Do I Sound Gay? Official Trailer 1 (2015) - Documentary HD," YouTube video, 2:23, posted by "IndieClips," June 8, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAcgicU_upo&t=76s.