I am wondering where the lysp that some gay men speak with comes from?

Ever watch old movies and notice how they spoke with a type of accent? It's kinda the same thing, but on a different level. Some people have the gay lisp because when you're surrounded by people you tend to pick-up their accent after a while. I don't know where or how it started, but it's there. So, some speak with a lisp and some with an accent; it's similar to other "dialects." That's just my observation, don't take it as a full-fledged linguistic analysis!

This is going to sound strange but, I like a lisp. A real lisp. The actually speech impediment. I can not stand the "gay" lisp, if you will. I mean no disrespect as I am a gay man as well. I consider myself masculine and am "straight" appearing in my mannerisms but, the gay lisp comes from guys who have been around many women in their lives and try to emulate them or they are putting on a front.

Thanks to Zea_M for hooking up the Wikipedia link. I find it intresting that "Some researchers found North American gay men tend to pronounce sibilants (s, z, sh, and the like) with assibilation -- more sibilation, hissing, or stridency. Which begs the question to be asked is the gay lisp not found in other areas of the world?

I have been out since I was 21, over 19 years now, and neither I, my friends or anyone I've ever met who happens to be Gay speaks like that. It's a stereotype. For the few that actually do, they're either faking it or they actually have that particular speach impediment.

i used to wonder the same thing, i know what you are talking about, i'm gay and don't speak like that, maybe it's just genetics, why do some str8 people speak with a lysp?

it comes from stereotypes on tv and movies. there might be a very few who actually talk that way, but I have never met anyone who does.

that nothing but generalizing and stereotyping.

I lisp because my lips are usually tired from all the oral action.

I lisp because its the cool thing to do.