CNN
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Think of all the ways you show the world who you are. How you dress, how you look, what you prefer to be called, who you spend your time with, even how you sound — they all reflect your specific identity.
When trans people explore ways to share their true selves with the world, they often think about these things on a deeper level. Something as simple as the voice they were born with might not sound or feel right. It might not reflect the real them.
This is where gender affirming vocal coaches come in. These professionals have a background in speech therapy, vocal performance, or other types of vocal practices and use their expertise to help people change the quality of their voice in a safe and sustainable way.
For some transgender, non-binary, or gender nonconforming people, a new voice is a gateway to a new form of self-expression.
Kevin Dorman is the owner of Prismatic Speech Services in Greensboro, North Carolina. Their path into the highly specialized world of gender affirming vocal coaching began with a love of performing and, at the suggestion of their high school theater teacher, they pursued speech therapy in college.
After exploring their own gender identity, Dorman realized a few years later that they were trans. The pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place for Dorman.
“At the same time, I was taking a course on voice disorders, and there was only one bullet point on gender-affirming voice work,” they told CNN. “But that was enough for me to go and do some research on my own.”
There are different approaches to gender affirming vocal work. In the realm of speech-language pathology, it is viewed in the same way that one would treat voice disorders. Practitioners may also have a background in areas such as vocal performance.
“Transgender vocal training, as it is sometimes called, emerged from a marriage of speech therapists, voice teachers, theater specialists, and their techniques. So it is a fascinating mix of science and art,” Dorman explains.
Dorman begins by asking each client what their goals are and how they want to sound. He then shows them how to use their voice differently by adjusting factors such as pitch and tone.
In addition to helping align voices and identities (thereby avoiding potentially uncomfortable questions or interactions), gender-affirming vocal coaching can also help people move through the world more comfortably, with enough confidence to do things that previously seemed too fraught to attempt.
“We want to know what sounds best to you, what feels most encouraging, what helps you participate in daily activities that other people take for granted, like feeling comfortable ordering at a drive-thru, calling a doctor’s office or talking to your neighbors,” Dorman said.
Kim Chandler/AP/File
People attend a rally outside the Alabama Statehouse on International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31, 2023.
Voice actor Alexis Vandom always had fun with her voice, even as a child. When she began her transition as an adult, she sought training from several specialized voice coaches to feminize her voice. It was a years-long process with physical and emotional challenges.
“I had to focus on getting out of my own way at first,” Vandom told CNN. “Like many trans women, voice training itself sometimes created additional dysphoria. I learned to give myself the grace and space to develop the voice over time.”
Because Vandom had a natural talent and interest in voice work, she was able to combine the knowledge she had gained about voice acting with knowledge she had gained specifically about vocal feminization.
Despite her experience, she sometimes found the jargon of speech pathology and singing techniques beyond her comprehension. She hopes that more accessible language will emerge around gender-affirming vocal coaching as the practice develops.
Some vocal practices, she says, have fallen out of favor because they can be damaging to the voice in the long run. For example, straining the larynx can lead to vocal tension dystonia, a speech and swallowing disorder.
“A lot of coaches these days are focusing on developing muscle memory exercises so that the voice comes naturally and without tension,” she said.
In addition to receiving professional training, Vandom also sought out YouTube tutorials and advice from others interested in vocal skills. It’s a route many transgender people take if they can’t afford or find a trained vocal coach. Other professionals CNN spoke to warned that such tutorials can be harmful if used incorrectly, but for many, it’s the most accessible option, Vandom said.
“For me, changing my voice wasn’t just about my identity. It was a matter of safety. I was living in the South at the time, and I think trans people who live in places that are particularly hostile want to develop their voices so that they can have interactions without feeling unsafe.”
Bryce Chambers, who has a background in acting and singing, said he knows many transgender people who work on their voices on their own without the help of a professional. He was fortunate enough to be introduced to a vocal coach after college who helped him lower and darken his voice by encouraging diaphragmatic breathing and throat position, among other things. They weren’t specifically a gender-affirming vocal coach, but they knew the processes needed to achieve Chambers’ specific goals.
“Any singer or actor has to take care of their voice for years,” he told CNN. “So concerns about trans or nonbinary people changing their voice in healthy ways are valid, but they are not unique. Many people have a need for vocal hygiene, staying hydrated, and taking vocal rest when they need it.”
The fact is, Chambers said, that if a transgender person feels the need to change his or her voice — whether for personal, social or safety reasons — he or she will do so.
“Trans people have been changing their voices for as long as they’ve existed, I know that,” he said. “Maybe some of the processes aren’t ideal, but it’s better than nothing. I just hope we continue to see progress in this area.”
Anna Freya began her career studying voice and now teaches voice and gender affirming singing techniques in the Seattle area.
Freya emphasizes that when working with the voice there are many ways to modify the way the throat, mouth, lips and tongue make different sounds.
“Pitch and pitch range, that’s really important,” she said. “The quality of the voice; bright versus dark; that’s also important. The anatomy and physiology of the voice matters, and in different ways than conventional singing. It’s almost like reverse engineering, looking at the elements of what the voice sounds like and which ones need to be swapped or put together in a different configuration to get a different result.”
This work can get very technical and presents some of the challenges of other vocal training styles. For example, to achieve a clearer, more feminine sound, Freya may encourage clients to reposition their voice box or larynx — something that, aside from sticking a hand down your throat, is accomplished by communicating how certain things feel or sound in the throat when the client adjusts them, and which muscles are working.
“But how feminine you sound in that particular example, or how feminine you sound in a particular way, also depends on how you pronounce things and the cadence of your voice,” Freya says.
Dorman takes a similar approach.
“I like to think of it this way: We’re changing the flow of breath through the throat, through the larynx where pitch is produced, and then everything above that, like the size and shape of the access area between the mouth and the nose,” they said. “That’s resonance. And then through that work we can get to a darker, warmer resonance, or a brighter, buzzier, brassier resonance.”
Because this type of coaching is meant to be lifelong, gender-affirming vocal coaches also place a high priority on healthy vocal hygiene, so that clients don’t damage their vocal mechanisms over time or fall into uncomfortable habits. This includes practical advice, such as staying hydrated and avoiding certain vocally taxing actions, such as shouting.
Then there’s the bigger question of which sounds are associated with gender.
“There is no one way to sound feminine. There is no one way to sound masculine. And there are few guidelines about what androgynous should sound like in the first place, so our job is to help our clients figure out what makes them feel empowered,” Dorman said.
“There are certainly many clients who come in with a specific goal, for example to be gendered correctly in public. But the problem is that gender is a much more dynamic process. It’s not static, it’s an exchange of information, so everyone comes to the sessions with different concepts of what is feminine and masculine.”
When Dorman started using gender-affirming vocal methods, it was 2016 — just a few years after she noticed that conversations about gender identity were really opening up in the U.S. There wasn’t a lot of specific research, networking, or practice.
“It has grown tremendously since then as more and more transgender people are discovering that it is a possible path to transition. Fortunately, care and the diversity of providers have increased over the years,” the researchers said.
Both Dorman and Freya’s clients currently pay $50 to $100 per session, which they know isn’t affordable for everyone. Looking to the future, they said they hope to see the field of gender-affirming vocal work grow both academically, with more specific research and training, and in a visible sense, with more providers offering services and finding ways to ease the financial burden.
Freya, who is lesbian, says gender affirming work is a skill she can offer to the broader LGBTQ community.
“It was a matter of, ‘I can help people who are more marginalized within the larger LGBT community.’ I feel very strongly about that,” she said. “If I can use my skills and my intelligence to help advance LGBTQ acceptance in society, why wouldn’t I do that? Especially if I can help others do the same, and then we all benefit from each other’s experience and expertise.”