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There Are More LGBT Characters on TV Than Ever Before (But They're Mostly White Men)
TV is getting sooooo gay.
GLAAD's 2017 Where We Are On TV study has reported the highest recorded amount of LGBT characters on television!
Of the 901 regular television characters on broadcast networks, cable, and streaming services, 58 identify as LGBTQ—the highest percentage ever recorded at 6.4%—with an additional 28 recurring LGBTQ characters throughout the platforms.
17 of those regular and recurring characters are transgender, including four non-binary. This is the first time GLAAD has even been able to quantify non-binary representation, as well asexual characters (one on cable [Raphael, Shadowhunters] and one on streaming [Todd Chavez, Bojack Horseman]).
But while LGBT representation has gone up, programs on all platforms are still lacking women and characters of color. Only 23% of all LGBTQ characters on television are people of color and just 43% are women.
Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO, expressed the importance of these characters now more than ever.
"As LGBT acceptance in government and the broader American culture reverses course, television is a critical home for LGBT stories and representation matters more than ever," she said. "At a time when the Trump administration is trying to render the LGBT people invisible, representing LGBT people in all of our diversity in scripted TV programs is an essential counterbalance that gives LGBT people stories to relate to and moves the broader public to support LGBT people and families."
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Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
Taylor Henderson is a PRIDE.com contributor. This proud Texas Bama studied Media Production/Studies and Sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, where he developed his passions for pop culture, writing, and videography. He's absolutely obsessed with Beyoncé, mangoes, and cheesy YA novels that allow him to vicariously experience the teen years he spent in the closet. He's also writing one!
