The Wage Effects of Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Abstract

This study is the first to apply the econometric tools developed in the study of race and gender discrimination to the newer question of sexual orientation discrimination. Analyzing pooled 1989–91 data from a national random sample, the General Social Survey, the author finds that gay and bisexual male workers earned from 11% to 27% less than heterosexual male workers with the same experience, education, occupation, marital status, and region of residence. There is also evidence that lesbian and bisexual women earned less than heterosexual women, but this result is not consistently statistically significant across all variable definitions and specifications.