Intersecting Inequality: The Effects of Race, Class, Gender, and Sexual Orientation on Wages

Danielle MacCartney, University of California, Irvine
Makiko Fuwa, University of California, Irvine

Using the combined 1 and 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) of the 2000 Census, we examine the significance of interactions between race, class, gender, and, sexual orientation on wage stratification. We find that gay men are less likely than heterosexual men to earn as much as heterosexual White men at every earnings level. Also, gay racial minority men are further disadvantaged by their racial minority status as they have much lower odds than gay White men. In contrast, lesbians are more likely to earn as much as heterosexual White men than their heterosexual female counter parts. However, both gay men and lesbians get smaller returns to education than heterosexuals. These findings indicate that sexuality is one of the elements constructing a hierarchical social order with White heterosexual men at the top.