title: Pitch characteristics of homosexual males.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the common stereotype that homosexual males show pitch patterns that mirror those of heterosexual females.
  
  
  METHODS
  Static group comparison.
  
  
  METHODS
  Comparison of speaking fundamental frequency and pitch variation of 30 homosexual males, 56 heterosexual age-matched males, and 54 age-matched heterosexual females as demonstrated in a sample of read speech.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the homosexual males, average fundamental frequency and pitch variation were significantly higher than in the heterosexual males but also significantly lower than in the heterosexual females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results do not confirm the stereotype that gay male speech mirrors the patterns of women's speech with respect to pitch characteristics. It would seem that the pitch patterns of gay male speakers constitute an example of sociophonetic variation.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Veiga de Almeida, Mestrado em Fonoaudiologia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baeck
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Corthals
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Van Borsel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D007100:Imitative Behavior; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010699:Phonation / Q000502:physiology*; D010700:Phonetics; D012933:Social Identification; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013240:Stereotyping; D055815:Young Adult