Television in the U.S. has reached a new record-high in terms of LGBTQ representation, according to a report released Thursday.
In its latest “Where We Are on TV” report, GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy group, found 637 LGBTQ characters have appeared or are scheduled to appear on scripted original programming on broadcast, cable and streaming services, between June 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022.
That’s a far cry from a total of 12 LGBTQ series regulars, noted in the group’s first report 16 years ago.
“From the explosion of content across platforms to the overdue discussions around diversity and inclusion, to the effects of COVID-19 on media consumption, we are seeing a new level of reach, demand, and hunger for fresh stories and content than we’ve ever seen before,” Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD’s president and CEO, told the Daily News.
The televised rainbow revolution could be seen across all platforms, according to the report.
GLAAD researchers found that on broadcast television, 92 series regular characters on prime-time shows are LGBTQ.
That represents about 12% of the 775 series regulars on broadcast television — and an increase of nearly 3% from the previous year.
The number of LGBTQ regular characters on scripted prime-time cable programs has risen from 81 to 87, while recurring LGBTQ characters jumped from 37 to 51, the report shows.
That means 138 regular and recurring LGBTQ characters appeared on cable last season, 20 more than the previous year — a number still lower than pre-pandemic days, however, when there were 215 LGBTQ characters on cable.
This year, GLAAD expanded its analysis to five streaming services that are relatively new to the market — Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ — six years after the organization began assessing Amazon, Hulu and Netflix.
When analyzing LGBTQ characters on original scripted programming on those eight platforms, GLAAD counted 358 regular and recurring characters.
“After finding several decreases in the previous year’s study, it is exciting to see quick progress made year-over-year with a new record high percentage of LGBTQ series regulars on broadcast, as well as increases in underrepresented parts of the community including queer women, transgender characters, and LGBTQ people of color,” said Megan Townsend, GLAAD’s director of entertainment research and analysis.
Lesbian characters represent the majority of the LGBTQ characters on broadcast, with 56 characters or 40%, an increase of 6% from the previous season, the report details.
There were 27 bisexual characters on broadcast TV in this year’s report, about 1% more than last year, while the number of transgender and nonbinary characters across all platforms went from 29 the previous season, to 42 regular characters this year.
Twenty of them are trans women, 14 are trans men and eight are nonbinary trans characters. There are also two asexual characters, one on HBO Max’s dramedy “Genera+ion,” which has since been canceled, and one on an upcoming streaming series.
The study suggests that the entertainment industry has started to recognize the power of LGBTQ representation.
“As we witness growth in LGBTQ representation on TV in many areas, we continue to call on Hollywood and creators to invest in storytelling that uplifts underrepresented voices and issues from our community, which ultimately has the potential to advance cultural acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ people,” Ellis told The News.
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