'Gaydar' is real says University of Washington researcher

BY Tim Haeck  on May 16, 2012 @ 1:26 pm (Updated: 7:28 am - 5/17/12 )

You've heard the phrase "gaydar," the ability to judge a person's sexual orientation based on looks or a gut instinct. A University of Washington researcher insists it's real and he set up experiments to prove it.

UW graduate student Josh Tabak says we make snap judgments every day about people based on usually obvious visual cues.

"What about something like sexual orientation? It's not physically obvious, it's not like sex or race, but at the same time, we have this idea in popular culture that "gaydar" exists, that we can tell people apart just by observation or intuition. It's even in the dictionary," said Tabak.

In the experiment, Tabak showed 129 college students 96 photos, sometimes upright, sometimes inverted, half were of gay people, half straight. The students were asked to make a quick judgment: "straight or gay." The images appeared for just 50 milliseconds, about one-third the duration of an eye blink.

"It's not subliminal, you know you're seeing a face but you really don't feel like you know much else. It's really fast."

The photos were grayscale, faces only, no glasses or facial hair, no make-up, piercings or tatoos. The results: For womens' faces, the test subjects were 65 percent accurate selecting sexual orientation. For mens' faces, it was 57 percent.

"Even when faces were upside the down, the judgments of sexual orientation for men's and women's faces were still above chance accuracy, which is incredible," said Tabak. He also thinks people might unconsciously make gay and straight judgments.

The article appears in the online journal PLoS ONE.

The scientific value of this research might be to prove that "gaydar" is real. The political and social value might be greater.

"One of the main arguments used by opponents of anti-discrimination protection for lesbian, gay and bi- sexual people is the idea that, oh, if lesbian, gay bi- sexual people would just quote, 'keep it to themselves,' then no one could discriminate against them because no one would know.' That's not true," said Tabak. "People can tell. If they want to make these judgments, they're not going to be right all the time, but people have some ability to judge this," concluded Tabak.

Others, he admitted, have no "gaydar" at all.

Taybak said it's interesting to him that people have "gaydar" and to explore the mental processing that goes on. But, he added, when it gets to pinpointing the exact facial differences between gays and straights, he won't go there, saying, "it could be used by people who want to discriminate and that would cross a moral line."

Tim Haeck, KIRO Radio Reporter
Tim Haeck is a news reporter with KIRO Radio. While Tim is one of our go-to, no-nonsense reporters, he also has a sensationally dry sense of humor and it will surprise some to learn he is a weekend warrior.
More Local News
Top Stories

  • More to the Story
    Liberace's ex-lover says the world will hear more of his story, and Michael Jackson's in there

  • 'I Am A God'
    Critics say Kanye West's album will change music forever

  • A Skeptic's Doubts
    An ESPN columnist doubts Russell Wilson will ever be elite
MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (18)


  • Add A Comment

  • SeattleJack wrote...
    I've been fooled before
    May 17, 2012 6:47 am
    You can't always tell. Back when I worked in construction, I had a supervisor who told me one day that he was gay. I just about dropped through the floor. There was absolutely NOTHING about him that would even give you a hint. And he wasn't like super-macho overcompensating, he was just a really masculine guy. After that, I sort of lost confidence in my gaydar, as well as my assumptions about what gay people are like.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • myopinion wrote...
    Seattle Jack
    May 17, 2012 7:11 am
    Is the only one that had anything good to say. Stay on point that is the point.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Are you serious wrote...
    myopinion...
    May 17, 2012 9:21 am
    That's all it is.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Anyone that Listens to the Audio of this Story
    May 17, 2012 7:49 am
    Will have their gaydar go on full alert.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kata wrote...
    If it's not universal
    May 17, 2012 8:05 am
    and it's not reliable - then why???

    I hope the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program didn't fork over too much grant money to cover this.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    65% and 57%? WHAT A SCAM
    May 17, 2012 8:25 am
    I'm not a statistician but those, to me, are truly unimpressive results. How much did this queer get paid to advance his agenda? All he’s really interested in is looking for more ways to label people “homophobic”. How do I know? Gaydar…
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Shark75
    May 17, 2012 3:44 pm
    That was 65 and 57 without using sound or mannerisms. There was just one variable...the photo. That makes it quite interesting.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • artimus wrote...
    SeattleJack
    May 17, 2012 8:33 am
    I've had the same experience. Helped my understand that there are good and bad folks of all persuasions.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Mike in Pioneer Square wrote...
    Profiling is Now Okay?
    May 17, 2012 8:43 am
    So we can't assume anyone who is black is a criminal, and we can't assume that anyone arabic is a terrorist, but we CAN assume that anyone who "looks" gay is gay. Fantastic logic.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • g33k wrote...
    Who cares!
    May 17, 2012 9:14 am
    Were are all just people, people. Who cares if you're straight, gay, white, black, green, yellow. No one should care.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SONAR GOD wrote...
    I care
    May 17, 2012 11:02 am
    The little green guy freak me out
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Hayduke wrote...
    My gaydar goes off the charts
    May 17, 2012 9:30 am
    When I encounter Catholic priests and gay-bashing religious conservatives.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Me Too, Sorta
    May 17, 2012 9:36 am
    Whenever I see an overly vocal anti gay person I see a self loathing gay person behind a facade.

    Case in point: Anyone's gaydar go off when seeing Marcus Bachmann on TV?

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SONAR GOD wrote...
    Me Too, Sorta
    May 17, 2012 11:07 am
    When ever i see a over the top Gay person shoving it in my face. I see a confused person trying to convince themself. Sounds the same when you say it either way STUPID.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kata wrote...
    wow
    May 17, 2012 9:37 am
    That troll attempt looked almost painful. But I'll have to take points off for the non sequitur. I'll give it an 8.3
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • roomtemp wrote...
    Of course my Gaydar works...
    May 17, 2012 11:50 am
    Comes in handy deciding whether goldenrod shirts and show tunes are suitable topics of conversation...

    Every once in a while you get metrosexual chaff messing with your reception though...

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Dancar wrote...
    Mis-identified as gay?
    May 17, 2012 12:28 pm
    I don't agree that looking for specific mannerism would be crossing a moral line. I'd be interested in how many heterosexuals tend to trigger "false positives" in other people's radar. I'd bet it's significant!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }