Abstract
Migration scholars have traditionally used four measures to assess immigrants’ level of assimilation in the United States: socioeconomic status, spatial concentration, language assimilation, and intermarriage. However, for immigrant sexual minorities, some of these measures have been historically problematic; for example, intermarriage is a limited measure of assimilation given the barriers to legal marriage. In this study, I examine the validity of each measure as it pertains to gay men immigrants and propose gay community attachment as an additional measure of assimilation. Drawing on twenty-three in-depth interviews with Chicago Polish gay immigrant men, I find that on the measures of socioeconomic status and language assimilation, the men tend to do well when compared with native populations. However, the measures of intermarriage and spatial concentration tended to capture the complex experiences of gay immigrant men less adequately, especially as these men simultaneously navigated ethnic and sexual communities. As such, I examine individuals’ relationships to both of these communities to gain a more accurate measure of assimilation.
