GLAAD launched its Studio Responsibility Index that tracks “quantity, quality and diversity” of LGBTQ characters in movies and observed that projects from Lionsgate and Paramount did not have any characters.
The Media Advocacy Organization released its 10th annual Studio Responsibility Index, according to Box Office Mojo the date included it’s annual study that tracks the “quantity, quality and diversity” of LGBTQ characters in movies released by seven different distributors in one calendar year. Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros were some of the few studios who included LGBTQ characters.
Of seventy seven movies that were theatrically launched by studios last year, 16, or 20.8 percent, contained LGBTQ characters. Some of those movies included Our Ladies, Licorice Pizza, Dear Evan Hansen, Eternals, West Side Story and In the Heights. This represented a growth of six movies compared to 2020, which many film releases plummet due to the pandemic.
As for racial diversity among LGBTQ characters, it decreased slightly to 39%, down 1% year-over-year. From different films that were released this year, there were 28 LGBTQ characters, 17 were white, 5 were black, 2 were Latinx, 2 were Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 was multiethnic, and 1 was Middle Eastern. This performance falls short of the 2017 record high of 57% of LGBTQ characters who are of color.
GLAAD comments to Variety:
“After a decade of this report, we’ve seen exponential growth in LGBTQ representation in film driven by our study. Yet there still remains so much work to be done in Hollywood,” said Megan Townsend, GLAAD’s director of entertainment research and analysis. “There are so many parts of our community — bisexual+ people, those living with HIV, LGBTQ characters with disabilities and transgender people, to name a few — that have yet to see themselves fully reflected on the big screen. As we look to the next 10 years, these stories must become a priority if studios want younger and more diverse generations to continue to support and engage with their storytelling.”
GLAAD reports that nine LGBTQ inclusive films from 2021 have passed the Vito-Russo test, showing a decrease from 90% of the previous year.
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