# Questions about "Gay or British" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 30, 2010, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826 "2010-04-30T03:56:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/21 "2010-04-30T15:19:33Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I’m aware that there exists a stereotype of the slightly eccentric, slightly effeminate, possibly homosexual Brit. Isn’t that what you folks refer to as parliament? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Philosopher)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/22 "2010-04-30T15:40:18Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > …who isn’t British. :dubious: He is actually. Born in England, schooled in England, lived there most of his life and speaks with an English accent. But I see your point, in the public consciousness he’s probably thought of as Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/23 "2010-04-30T15:54:13Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#): > > He … speaks with an English accent. Kudos to anyone who can catch a recognizable accent from listening to Shane MacGowan! Other than “drunk.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/24 "2010-04-30T16:05:31Z")
Are [these guys](http://media-files.gather.com/images/d807/d859/d745/d224/d96/f3/full.jpg) gay or British? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/25 "2010-04-30T16:06:47Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > (::aside:: is “languidity” a word?) The word is languor. I blame Sting for this with “Englishman in New York”, his ode to notorious queen Quentin Crisp. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/26 "2010-04-30T16:54:55Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Philosopher](#): > > He is actually. Born in England, schooled in England, lived there most of his life and speaks with an English accent. But I see your point, in the public consciousness he’s probably thought of as Irish. Well blow me down. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/27 "2010-04-30T16:58:19Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > The word is languor. > > I blame Sting for this with “Englishman in New York”, his ode to notorious queen Quentin Crisp. I think this stereotype is decades old, far older than the Sting recording. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/28 "2010-04-30T17:03:28Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > The same could be said about upper class Massachusetts natives cf Frasier Crane’s surprisingly straight brother Niles. Who is, FWIW, played by a gay actor. 😃 > [@TruCelt](#): > > Who knows what will draw the suspicion of the American Homophobe? I’ve known a number of non-homophobic people to make the comment (or a similar one) tongue-in-cheek. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/29 "2010-04-30T17:08:52Z")
Well, I once had an attractive, well-dressed, sensitive professor who spoke Spanish with (what I perceived as) a lisp, and it wasn’t until he busted out the English several weeks into the course that I realized he was British, and the ‘‘lisp’’ was really what Spanish sounds like with an English accent. I do remember saying explicitly, ‘‘I thought he was gay, but then I realized he was British.’’ (And married, that lucky bitch. Gay or British, he was a dreamy man.) I wasn’t aware there was a stereotype though. I always thought the stereotype was ‘‘Gay or Asian,’’ and I think [Details Magazine](http://www.international.ucla.edu/cms/images/4-09_Details1.jpg) got in trouble for printing an advertisement using that stereotype. On preview: Word to the wise: don’t google ‘‘gay or asian’’ with your safety filter off! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/30 "2010-04-30T17:19:03Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > . . . the ‘‘lisp’’ was really what Spanish sounds like with an English accent. Only some Spanish . . . and having nothing to do with an English accent. ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/31 "2010-04-30T17:19:20Z")
I’ve heard the stereotype as a child (which held true then) of British people having bad teeth . I remember The British Invasion of the Bands and how you could nearly gauge the level of their sucess by when they finally showed up with a nice new set of toofers. But I’ve never heard of British males being confused as gay males as a common occurrence before. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/32 "2010-04-30T17:21:16Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > …(And married, that lucky bitch… Took me a minute to decide who you were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/33 "2010-04-30T17:22:17Z")
I would imagine that most Americans’ exposure to British people is via the media (movies in particular) where (a) they’re frequently typecast and (b) is in an industry (showbiz) with a higher percentage of gay people than, say, steelworkers, builders, or mechanics. Stereotyping nationalities is one of the few accepted stereotypes allowed these days. Hopefully it will one day go the way of the others. And it’s not like we’re not equally guilty of it, with our stereotypes of the French or Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/34 "2010-04-30T17:23:04Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > Well blow me down. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/35 "2010-04-30T18:01:08Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Isn’t that what you folks refer to as parliament? > > 😛 No, what we refer to as Parliament is [something entirely different.](http://rhonabennett.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/parliament-funkadelic-1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/36 "2010-04-30T18:05:16Z")
> [@Oni no Maggie](#): > > No, what we refer to as Parliament is [something entirely different.](http://rhonabennett.files.wordpress.com/2009/10/parliament-funkadelic-1.jpg) I do love the funk!😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/37 "2010-04-30T18:18:06Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Only some Spanish . . . and having nothing to do with an English accent. I’ve had countless instructors who were native speakers of Spanish from Puerto Rico to Spain and countless who were American-born non-native speakers, and nobody to my ear had ever sounded like that before. Once he spoke English, his Spanish accent made perfect sense, because he speaks English exactly like he speaks Spanish. I have to assume it’s because of his British accent. > [@](#): > > Took me a minute to decide who you were talking about. Whatever woman was married to him. Sigh… ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/38 "2010-04-30T20:03:22Z")
I’ve heard of it all my life, and I subscribed to it. Fastidious, fussy, sharp-dressed, a bit prissy, a high-class accent. It’s similar to the American inner-city homosexual stereotype. Hugh Grant, Jude Law, David Niven, Peter O’Toole… plenty of examples out there. > [@Candyman74](#): > > Stereotyping nationalities is one of the few accepted stereotypes allowed these days. Hopefully it will one day go the way of the others. Would be a sad day for such a thing. If you can’t make fun of foreigners, who’s left? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/39 "2010-04-30T22:14:02Z")
Not sure about Brits, but [Parliament](http://www.parliamenthouse.com/) is definitely gay! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826/40 "2010-04-30T22:30:41Z")
There’s also this stereotypically higher pitched accent that some people could mistake for the type of gay person who likes to (often artificially) pitch up his voice to sound more feminine. Think Pip from South Park, Stewie from Family Guy, or the difference between the voice of Dr. Gregory House versus Hugh Laurie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-gay-or-british/537826.md?page=3)