 |
 |
(Illustration by Mike Ritter)
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
|
| | |
HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: MATT SCHAFER
COMMENTS |
| 
The picture of a gay couple living in a Midtown condo with fantastic views, within walking distance of their well-paying jobs, Piedmont Park, and their season tickets to the Fox Theatre fractures in the light of several recent studies.
Most of Georgia’s gay couples make more as a couple but less individually, earn significantly less once they have children, and live well outside the boundaries of Midtown.
Since same-sex couples were first able to identify themselves by checking "unmarried partners" on the 2000 Census, researchers have examined the results to try to learn the truth behind the stereotypes of "the gay lifestyle."
“Men in same-sex couples, and gay men more broadly, take a hit [financially],” said Adam Romero, a public policy fellow at the Williams Institute, a UCLA think tank that researches gay issues.
A recent report from the Williams Institute crunched Census numbers to offer an economic snapshot of gay Georgians.
On average, a gay couple in Georgia earns $81,107, compared to $74,462 for married couples, because both partners are more likely to work. But a gay man living with his partner makes $43,414 on average, compared to $50,340 for married men and $33,274 for partnered lesbians.
The disparate numbers lead some to argue there is a “pink ceiling” for gay workers — that while a company may be comfortable hiring gay people, it may not be as comfortable with gay people in higher-paying upper management roles.
“While we didn’t study that directly, it would likely be discrimination in some form,” Romero said.
Dr. Gregory B. Lewis oversees the joint Georgia Tech/Georgia State Doctorate Study in Public Policy. Lewis, who is gay, authored several papers about the gay population in Georgia and said married men out-earn everyone, not just gay men and lesbians.
“There is a real big gap between married men and men in same-sex relationships, but it’s not that different between unmarried men and married men,” Lewis said. “When I looked at the 2000 [census] numbers, men who lived with men made 16 percent less than married men, while men who lived with a female partner made about 13 percent less than married men.”
The idea of a "pink ceiling," similar to the "glass ceiling" women face in the job market, may exist more in certain industries and smaller companies, said Ronald Moore, director of diversity and inclusion for Kimberly-Clark.
“I think that’s very industry specific," said Moore, who also serves as political board chair for Georgia Equality. “I think when you look at the large companies, top 50 companies, it’s less of an issue.”
Lesbians tend to buck the trend when compared to heterosexual women. In Georgia, coupled lesbians had higher salaries than their straight counterparts by earning $33,274 to $26,433, but still $17,000 shy of the average salary of a married Georgia man.
Lesbians incomes
Romero attributed some of the gap to lesbians being less likely to raise children.
“Studies show lesbians consistently do better than straight women, and one of the reasons for that is that married women tend to step out of the workforce to raise children,” Romero said.
Lewis speculated it might have more to do with life decisions.
“One reason that has been given, and we don’t know it’s so, is that lesbians expect to work their entire life, they need to be employed, and straight women are less likely to expect that,” he said.
Teri Gann and her partner of 14 years live in east Cobb County, where they raised two children together. Gann is a vice president for Integrity Bank in Roswell, and said sexual orientation might not be a stumbling block.
“I certainly have been with companies in 26 years where individuals were not comfortable with having a gay employee. But if I was not comfortable there I would go somewhere else,” she said. “If I wanted to move ahead, or move to another level, I just go somewhere else. A ‘pink ceiling’? I don’t think that exists, but I definitely think there is a glass ceiling for women.”
Gann did say in a conservative field like banking, being extreme, either in behavior or appearance, can hold someone back.
“I do think there is some subconscious discrimination that goes on if you’re a more effeminate man, or a very masculine woman,” she said.
Married men earned more than women and unmarried ...
|
