Arts & Entertainment
GLAAD report shows LGBTQ inclusion on television at record high
The mood was light and spirits were high at the offices of United Talent Agency in Beverly Hills this morning, as GLAAD held the presentation of its “Where We Are On TV” report for 2019-2020
The report was authored by GLAAD Director of Entertainment Research and Analysis Megan Townsend, who told the gathered crowd of journalists and industry professionals that the percentage of regular LGBTQ characters on broadcast television reached an all-time high in 2019 – exceeding last year’s challenge by the organization to reach 10 percent inclusion on primetime scripted series by 2020.
According to the report’s findings, networks met and exceeded this call in just one year, with a record-high percentage of LGBTQ series regulars on broadcast television at 10.2% of all series regulars. This number is up from last year’s 8.8% – which was at that time the record high – and is the highest percentage since GLAAD expanded to count all broadcast series regulars 15 years ago.
In addition, for the first time in this report’s history, there were more women than men among regular and recurring broadcast TV characters, with women making up 53 percent and men 47 percent.
The report also found that racial diversity of LGBTQ characters on broadcast and cable had increased significantly.
Out of the 120 LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on broadcast, 62 (52%) are people of color, a two percent increase from last year amounting to six more characters. It’s the second year in a row where LGBTQ people of color have outnumbered white LGBTQ people on broadcast, which is the only platform to hit the goal of having at least half of LGBTQ characters be characters of color.
On cable, out of 215 LGBTQ characters counted, 103 (48%) are people of color, which is an increase of two percentage points from last year.
Streaming television saw a decrease, with 63 (41%) people of color out of a total of 153 LGBTQ characters – seven points down from last year’s report.
Across all platforms tracked, representation numbers are up on several other fronts. The total number of transgender characters has increased to 38 from last year’s 26; bisexual+ characters posted a slight increase in characters though a one percentage point drop overall; and there are nine characters with HIV/AIDS, up from seven last year.
In addition, the report found a record-high percentage of Latinx series regulars (up from 8% to 9%), a record-tying number of black series regulars (held steady at 22%), and a record-tying number of Asian Pacific Islander series regulars (held steady at 8%) across broadcast television.
Following the presentation of the report’s findings there was a panel discussion led by Deadline’s Dino-Ray Ramos, with participants including GLAAD President & CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, UTA partner and television talent agent Jacob Fenton, comedian/actress Sabrina Jalees (“Carol’s Second Act”), Gloria Calderón Kellett (executive producer, showrunner, director, and actor, “One Day at a Time”), actress Nicole Maines (Supergirl), Marja-Lewis Ryan (executive producer and showrunner, “The L Word: Generation Q”), and actor Brian Michael Smith (“The L Word: Generation Q,” “Queen Sugar,” “9-1-1: Lone Star”). The conversation overall emphasized the encouraging progress indicated by the report, while reinforcing the importance of equal representation across the spectrum of LGBTQ experience and acknowledging the positive impact felt by the increasing inclusion of LGBTQ voices among the teams creating television content.
“However,” noted Townsend in a statement, “there is still work to be done.”
“On cable TV,” she said, “just three networks account for 44 percent of all LGBTQ representation on primetime scripted series. Similarly, programming from four dedicated producers and creators who prioritize inclusion, Greg Berlanti, Lena Waithe, Ryan Murphy, and Shonda Rhimes, accounts for 14 percent of total LGBTQ characters across broadcast, cable, and streaming originals. We hope to see all networks follow their lead, and work towards reflecting the reality of their audience and the culture.”
Ellis summed up the findings by saying, “Last year, GLAAD called on the television industry to increase the number of LGBTQ characters and more accurately reflect the world we live in, and they responded by exceeding this challenge. At a time when the cultural climate is growing increasingly divisive, increased representation of LGBTQ stories and characters on television is especially critical to advance LGBTQ acceptance. Shows like ‘Pose,’ ‘Schitt’s Creek,’ ‘Batwoman,’ and ‘Billions’ demonstrate that not only are LGBTQ stories and characters on TV becoming more diverse, but that viewers everywhere continue to respond with extreme positivity.””
She announced that GLAAD will now call on the industry to ensure that 20 percent of series regular characters on primetime scripted broadcast series are LGBTQ by 2025, as well as make sure that half of LGBTQ characters on every platform are people of color within the next two years.
The “Where We Are on TV” report analyzes the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and assesses the number of LGBTQ characters on cable networks and original scripted streaming series on the services Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix for the 2019-2020 TV season. This marks the 24th year that GLAAD has tracked the presence of LGBTQ characters on television.
You can read the full report here.
Italy
Olympics Pride House ‘really important for the community’
Italy lags behind other European countries in terms of LGBTQ rights
The four Italian advocacy groups behind the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics’ Pride House hope to use the games to highlight the lack of LGBTQ rights in their country.
Arcigay, CIG Arcigay Milano, Milano Pride, and Pride Sport Milano organized the Pride House that is located in Milan’s MEET Digital Culture Center. The Washington Blade on Feb. 5 interviewed Pride House Project Manager Joseph Naklé.
Naklé in 2020 founded Peacox Basket Milano, Italy’s only LGBTQ basketball team. He also carried the Olympic torch through Milan shortly before he spoke with the Blade. (“Heated Rivalry” stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie last month participated in the torch relay in Feltre, a town in Italy’s Veneto region.)
Naklé said the promotion of LGBTQ rights in Italy is “actually our main objective.”
ILGA-Europe in its Rainbow Map 2025 notes same-sex couples lack full marriage rights in Italy, and the country’s hate crimes law does not include sexual orientation or gender identity. Italy does ban discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment, but the country’s nondiscrimination laws do not include gender identity.
ILGA-Europe has made the following recommendations “in order to improve the legal and policy situation of LGBTI people in Italy.”
• Marriage equality for same-sex couples
• Depathologization of trans identities
• Automatic co-parent recognition available for all couples
“We are not really known to be the most openly LGBT-friendly country,” Naklé told the Blade. “That’s why it (Pride House) was really important for the community.”
“We want to use the Olympic games — because there is a big media attention — and we want to use this media attention to raise the voice,” he added.
Naklé noted Pride House will host “talks and roundtables every night” during the games that will focus on a variety of topics that include transgender and nonbinary people in sports and AI. Another will focus on what Naklé described to the Blade as “the importance of political movements now to fight for our rights, especially in places such as Italy or the U.S. where we are going backwards, and not forwards.”
Seven LGBTQ Olympians — Italian swimmer Alex Di Giorgio, Canadian ice dancers Paul Poirier and Kaitlyn Weaver, Canadian figure skater Eric Radford, Spanish figure skater Javier Raya, Scottish ice dancer Lewis Gibson, and Irish field hockey and cricket player Nikki Symmons — are scheduled to participate in Pride House’s Out and Proud event on Feb. 14.
Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood representatives are expected to speak at Pride House on Feb. 21.
The event will include a screening of Mariano Furlani’s documentary about Pride House and LGBTQ inclusion in sports. The MiX International LGBTQ+ Film and Queer Culture Festival will screen later this year in Milan. Pride House Los Angeles – West Hollywood is also planning to show the film during the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Naklé also noted Pride House has launched an initiative that allows LGBTQ sports teams to partner with teams whose members are either migrants from African and Islamic countries or people with disabilities.
“The objective is to show that sports is the bridge between these communities,” he said.
Bisexual US skier wins gold
Naklé spoke with the Blade a day before the games opened. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics will close on Feb. 22.
More than 40 openly LGBTQ athletes are competing in the games.
Breezy Johnson, an American alpine skier who identifies as bisexual, on Sunday won a gold medal in the women’s downhill. Amber Glenn, who identifies as bisexual and pansexual, on the same day helped the U.S. win a gold medal in team figure skating.
Glenn said she received threats on social media after she told reporters during a pre-Olympics press conference that LGBTQ Americans are having a “hard time” with the Trump-Vance administration in the White House. The Associated Press notes Glenn wore a Pride pin on her jacket during Sunday’s medal ceremony.
“I was disappointed because I’ve never had so many people wish me harm before, just for being me and speaking about being decent — human rights and decency,” said Glenn, according to the AP. “So that was really disappointing, and I do think it kind of lowered that excitement for this.”
Puerto Rico
Bad Bunny shares Super Bowl stage with Ricky Martin, Lady Gaga
Puerto Rican activist celebrates half time show
Bad Bunny on Sunday shared the stage with Ricky Martin and Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl halftime show in Santa Clara, Calif.
Martin came out as gay in 2010. Gaga, who headlined the 2017 Super Bowl halftime show, is bisexual. Bad Bunny has championed LGBTQ rights in his native Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
“Not only was a sophisticated political statement, but it was a celebration of who we are as Puerto Ricans,” Pedro Julio Serrano, president of the LGBTQ+ Federation of Puerto Rico, told the Washington Blade on Monday. “That includes us as LGBTQ+ people by including a ground-breaking superstar and legend, Ricky Martin singing an anti-colonial anthem and showcasing Young Miko, an up-and-coming star at La Casita. And, of course, having queer icon Lady Gaga sing salsa was the cherry on the top.”
La Casita is a house that Bad Bunny included in his residency in San Juan, the Puerto Rican capital, last year. He recreated it during the halftime show.
“His performance brought us together as Puerto Ricans, as Latin Americans, as Americans (from the Americas) and as human beings,” said Serrano. “He embraced his own words by showcasing, through his performance, that the ‘only thing more powerful than hate is love.’”
Drag artists perform for crowds in towns across Virginia. The photographer follows Gerryatrick, Shenandoah, Climaxx, Emerald Envy among others over eight months as they perform at venues in the Virginia towns of Staunton, Harrisonburg and Fredericksburg.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
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