GLAAD’s 2023 Studio Responsibility Index Reports Sharp Increase in LGBTQ Characters of Color

GLAAD released the 12th installment of its Studio Responsibility Index, a study that tracks the “quantity, quality and diversity” of LGBTQ characters in films released in a calendar year by 10 Hollywood distributors. The report found that most of the companies received low grades and overall representation ticked down just slightly.

To compile the data, GLAAD investigated 256 films released in 2023 by A24, Amazon, Apple TV+, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros. Discovery (including subsidiary distribution labels and streaming services). The organization found 70 films out of 256 contained an LGBTQ character (or 27.3 percent), a decrease from last year’s record high of 100 out of 350 films (or 28.5 percent). The 70 films featured a total of 170 LGBTQ characters, a decrease of 122 from last year, and of those 170, 78 represented characters of color, a sharp 40 percent increase.

The report called it “a welcome uptick” and cited such films as Rustin, The Blackening, The Color Purple , Shortcomings, Joy Ride, The Persian Version, Cassandro and more for being responsible for the new data. On the flip side, GLAAD noted that there were zero Indigenous LGBTQ characters in 2023, “an area of representation where Hollywood has historically failed.” The Lily Gladstone-starrer Fancy Dance , from Apple TV+, is due for release in 2024 though GLAAD said “one film is not enough.”

GLAAD tallied two transgender characters out of those 170, hailing from films Next Goal Wins and ¡Que Viva Mexico! , down from 13 characters in 2023. However, the media watchdog group pointed out in its report that the latter film featured a trans character played by a cisgender man, which GLAAD noted can reinforce false narratives that transwomen are “simply men in dresses.”

Also in its new report, GLAAD distributes overall ratings to the companies as a way to analyze how those LGBTQ characters are represented. Nearly all the distributors received failing, insufficient or poor grades, including A24, Apple TV+, Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony and Disney. The only one to receive a rating of good was Amazon.

“Though there is inconsistent progress on LGBTQ representation from major distributors year to year, recent films with LGBTQ leads prove that our stories can absolutely be both critical and commercial successes — when they have the full support of the studio behind them,” explained GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.

The report comes on the heels of an investigation by The New York Times about Ellis and her questionable spending as the long-serving head of the organization. “I take my role as GLAAD’s financial steward incredibly seriously, and we’ll continue updating our procedures to keep pace with the organization’s rapid growth,” Ellis said in a statement in response. The story cited sources who claimed that her spending was more aligned with what is considered commonplace at for-profit companies rather than a nonprofit organization and that some of the receipts could be in violation of IRS rules.

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