Exploring a Minority in the Minority: Same-Sex Couples among Immigrants in Germany

Mirko Braack, University of Rostock
Nadja Milewski , Federal Institut for Population Research, Wiesbaden

We study the intersection of international migration and sexual orientation by looking at same-sex couples among international migrants in Germany. The study is exploratory because there are hardly any available data on this minority within a minority; the topic is sensitive; and the “target group” is assumed to be very small. We estimate the prevalence of same-sex couples among migrant women and men and describe their socio-demographic characteristics. We use the scientific use file of the German Microcensus for 2013. We account for the possibility that the information on same-sex relationships is missing or wrong by calculating a range of estimates. Our results show that the prevalence of same-sex couples is lower among the immigrant than the native population, and that migrants in same-sex couples are more similar (endogamy) in terms of other socio-demographic variables (age, education) than migrants in opposite-sex couples with mixed countries of origin.

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 Presented in Session 74. Interethnic Union Formation and Dissolution