Every Major Film Studio Failed When It Came To Trans Representation Last Year

By Lauren Rearick


Even with Hollywood’s recent attempts to create television and film that’s more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people, a new report from GLAAD indicates that the film industry still has a long way to go once it comes to representation.


On Thursday, May 23, GLAAD released its Studio Responsibility Report, an annual investigation that examines representation of LGBTQ+ characters in major studio films. According to this year’s report, zero of the 110 major studio films released in 2018 featured a transgender character. For the report, major studios included 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount Photos (which is owned by Viacom, MTV News’s parent business, Sony Photographs, Universal Photos, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros., And also films released by four subsidiaries of those major studios.


answering to the lack of transgender characters, GLAAD’s Director of Entertainment Statistics & Analysis, Megan Townsend, called for change. “The studios should recognize the power of LGBTQ moviegoers and the desire for stories that resemble ourselves, and create and market more films for this audience who is willing to purchase tickets,” she mentioned in a statement.


This is the second year in a row that GLAAD observed a lack of transgender characters, however its report did note an increase in the quantity of gay and lesbian characters in major studio films. In 2017, only 12.8 percent of the major studio films GLAAD surveyed featured characters that identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, and/or queer. This year, that number increased to 18 percent, with GLAAD directly pointing to the success of films including Love, Simon, Deadpool 2, and Blockers.


Of the 45 LGBTQ+ characters included in films this year, ten were on-screen for more than ten minutes, 26 were on-screen for far less than three minutes, and 16 were on-screen for far less than a minute.


Animated and family member television series continue to increase their representation of LGBTQ+ characters, including a recent same-sex wedding that was featured on Arthur, nevertheless GLAAD reports that movies are not doing the same. For the opening time in five years, the report did not find an individual animated or family member film that was inclusive of LGBTQ characters.


GLAAD is also calling on Hollywood to do more, particularly any time it comes to LGBTQ+ characters of color. “The full diversity of the LGBTQ community must be better reflected in wide-release film,” the agency tweeted. “In 2018, 42 percent of the LGBTQ characters we counted were people of color. This is a fifteen-percentage point reduce from 2017.”


In a statement, Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD President and CEO, backed the required for a more inclusive film industry. “While the film industry should include more stories of LGBTQ people of color and transgender people, studios are finally addressing the calls from LGBTQ people and allies around the world who wish to be able to see more diversity in films,” she noted.


after the conclusion of its report, GLAAD is calling on Hollywood to be more inclusive by 2021, and asked that the studios make sure that 20 percent of their annual releases be LGBTQ+ inclusive. Viewers will have to wait and visualize whether the film industry meets that objective, although the report indicates that future LGBTQ+-inclusive films including Nimona, Lumberjanes, and Goldie Vance are slated for release in the coming years.