Yesterday my Nana said something the provoked a discussion, the statement was this:

"I'm glad you don't sound poofy anymore"

What followed was me telling my Nan that I mask my voice, I mask because if I were to speak naturally I'm not respected... (1)

If I speak naturally then I put myself at risk of negative judgement, any authority I had with a deeper voice is lost, I mask because it's safer for me to do so and it gets me jobs, I'm taken seriously.

I mask when I'm around those who judge me, this includes family (2)

I don't mask when I feel comfortable around those I'm with, usually other gay people and when I'm not masking I feel most liberated and free.

Masking has become instinctive to me, I can judge the room before I've even entered it and adjust my voice accordingly.
(3)

My ability to mask is something I learnt early on in my teens, as others voices were dropping mine wasn't, so I acted it. As a singer I found masking easy enough and so now I have 2 distinct speaking voices, if you've heard the higher of the 2 then you make me feel comfortable.