GLAAD released its annual Where Are We on TV report last week and it looks like the number of LGBTQ characters on TV is at an all-time high!
The report looks at the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and original scripted streaming series on services Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix.
This year the report comes with a lot of good news, indicating that our TV is looking more queer and diverse than ever before! LGBTQ characters make up 9% of all the characters on TV, with is up a further 2% from last year. The report also brings another first for the history books, finding that 1/5 those characters are also people of colour.
“With anti-LGBTQ policies being debated here and abroad, the stories and characters on television are more critical than ever before to build understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ people,” said GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis.
“Not only do stories that explore the rich lives and identities of LGBTQ people move the needle forward culturally, but they pay off in ratings – shows like Will & Grace, Supergirl, Empire, and How To Get Away with Murder all attract millions of viewers weekly and demonstrate that audiences are hungry for new stories and perspectives.”
The top findings from this year’s report include:
– A record-high percentage of LGBTQ series regulars on broadcast television at 8.8% of all series regulars, up from 6.4% last year.
– The number of regular LGBTQ characters counted on scripted primetime cable increased to 120, while recurring characters increased to 88, making for 208 characters.
– LGBTQ characters on broadcast television are at gender parity with equal percentages of men and women (49.6%).
– For the first time, there are more LGBTQ people of color (50%) than white LGBTQ people (49%) on broadcast television.
– This year, there are 26 regular and recurring transgender characters tracked across all three platforms, up from 17 last year. Of those, 17 are trans women, five are trans men, and four are non-binary characters.
– There were 75 LGBTQ regular characters counted in original scripted series on the streaming services Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix as well as 37 recurring characters, for a total of 112 LGBTQ characters.
– Bisexual+ characters make up 27 percent of the LGBTQ characters tracked across all platforms (broadcast, cable, streaming originals), a slight decrease in percentage from last year, but up to 117 characters from 93 in the previous report. The numbers still skew toward women, though there was an increase in bi+ men this year (84 women to 33 men).
– The amount of regular primetime broadcast characters counted who have a disability has slightly increased to 2.1 percent, but that number still vastly underrepresents the actualities of Americans with disabilities. There are seven characters across all three platforms tracked (broadcast, cable, streaming) who are HIV-positive, a substantial increase from last year’s two.
– Only 43 percent of the regular characters counted on broadcast primetime television are women, the same percentage as last year and a severe underrepresentation of the U.S. population, which is estimated to be 51 percent women.
– Netflix counts the highest number of LGBTQ characters on all streaming services, and FX counts the highest number on cable networks. The CW boasts the highest percentage of LGBTQ series regular characters of the five broadcast networks.
You can read the entire report here!
While there may be more queer and diverse representation on TV than we’ve ever had before, there is still more work to be done. But at least we can take some comfort in knowing that we are going in the right direction.
What are your thoughts?
[Originally published via GoHakka]
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