Income Inequality Across LGBTQ+ Identity Groups

• In Event: 41021 - Student Forum Refereed Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Roundtable 11: Intersectional Inequalities

Abstract

The current study offers a novel theory of queer stratification informed by an empirical study of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) income inequality. Early research on LGBTQ+ income inequality focused on sexual minorities only, suggesting that queer men incurred pay penalties while queer women earned pay premiums in comparison to their heterosexual counterparts. Despite advancement in the availability and quality of data which collects participants’ sexuality and gender identity beyond the binary, results remain mixed. The current study offers estimates of LGBTQ+ income penalties utilizing the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), with specific attention paid to differences across LGBTQ+ identity groups. Overarchingly, the current study shows that gender minorities are more harshly penalized for breaking gender norms than sexual minorities are for breaking sexual norms. When comparing the magnitude of discrimination across sexual minorities, bisexuals are found to incur heavier penalties to their income than lesbians and gays; and when looking between gender minorities, individuals who identify as gender nonconforming incur heavier penalties than transgender men or women. In both cases, it is theorized that this is because both groups break two norms as opposed to their peers, who break just one – bisexuals break both the norm of heterosexuality and monosexuality, and gender nonconforming individuals do not identify with the gender which aligns with their sex at birth and additionally do not conform to the gender binary altogether. These findings support the theoretical claims made within queer studies, demonstrating empirically, that much of the social and political progress made for the LGBTQ+ community over the last several decades has not reached the most vulnerable queer identity groups – namely, bisexuals and transgender or nonbinary people.

Author

• Hannah Jacobs, University of Florida