ABSTRACT
This essay is an initial attempt to think about whether lesbians and gay men might tend to be in different occupations than straight people, and to consider how being in different occupations might affect lesbians' and gay men's earnings. Due to discrimination, socialization, and family responsibilities, both gender and ethnicity significantly influence occupational distributions-the proportions of different groups found in different occupations (Reskin 1994; King 1992). For similar reasons, we might expect sexual orientation to influence occupational distribution. Factors that specifically affect the occupational distribution of lesbians and gay men may be roughly divided into two categories: those relating to discrimination against lesbians and gay men, and those stemming from same-sex family structures.
