LGBTQ news and entertainment
GLAAD’s 2025 Studio Responsibility Index shows LGBTQ+ inclusion in mainstream films has declined over the past year. We are sliding backward. Continue reading “GLAAD: LGBTQ Inclusion In Mainstream Movies Losing Ground”
Some news items you might have missed: • Futurism: A new study shows that the children of gay dads born through surrogacy tend to be more well-adjusted than the kids of straight couples who conceived them naturally. Continue reading “Study: Kids With Gay Dads Doing Better Than Kids Of Straight Dads + More News”
(graphic via GLAAD)
Kit Connor (screen capture)
In this week’s podcast: • Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surged to number one in the latest polling for the upcoming Iowa caucuses • Gay men in Malaysia have been sentenced to months in prison and being whipped with a cane for having sex at a private residence • A gay teen heard the slur ‘faggot’ one time too many – and took care of it. Link to story at The Randy Report – therandyreport.com/a-gay-teen-had-…g-called-fggot/ • Two male dancers were featured on the UK’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and the world didn’t end. Link to the story on The Randy Report – therandyreport.com/strictly-come-d…tunning-effect/ • Get ready small-town America – the queens are coming! • Representation for the LGBTQ community on TV rose to an all-time high according to the ‘Where We Are On TV report from GLAAD All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report. If you enjoy catching up on LGBTQ news in a quick podcast, I’d appreciate it if you would share The Randy Report with your friends. I like to think of the podcast as ‘the 60 Minutes of gay news…only shorter.’ Hit the play button and thanks for listening 🙂
The 24th annual Where We Are on TV report from GLAAD shows a record-high of 10.2% of broadcast television series regulars (up from last year’s 8.8%) are LGBTQ. And for the first time, there are more LGBTQ female characters (regular and recurring) than male. Fifty-three percent were women and 47 percent were men. More stats: • 52% of LGBTQ characters (regular and recurring) on broadcast television are people of color • 48% of LGBTQ characters on cable are people of color • 41% of LGBTQ characters on streaming platforms are people of color • Across all platforms tracked (broadcast, cable, streaming), the total number of transgender characters increased to 38 from 26 • 9% of LGBTQ characters on broadcast television were Latinx, 22% were Black, and 8% were Asian Pacific Islander • Netflix had the highest number of LGBTQ characters among streaming services, Showtime was the most LGBTQ-inclusive of cable networks, and the CW had the most LGBTQ characters on network television GLAAD uses the data from the Where We Are on TV report in work throughout the year to advocate leaders in the TV industry to include more diverse and substantive LGBTQ representations that accelerate acceptance. For more information, check out the full report from GLAAD here.
Flix and Orka in ‘Star Wars Resistance’ (screen capture)
Fans of the Star Wars franchise have long called out creators of the sci-fi flicks for the woeful lack of LGBTQ representation. Back in 2015, the chemistry between Finn (John Boyega) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) was palatable onscreen in The Force Awakens. But, no same-sex anything ever came up between the characters. Well, except this fan video mashup:
And characters that are part of the LGBTQ community in the Star Wars comics and books don’t make it into the major feature films. Reess Kairn, a villain in the 1999 comic book The Bounty Hunters: Aurra Sing, had transitioned from alien to a human woman. Goran Beviin and Medrit Vasur-Beviin were the first confirmed gay couple in Star Wars literature appearing in the Legacy of the Force series. Season Two of Star Wars Resistance (nominated for a 2019 Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Children’s Program’) premieres on the Disney Channel and Disney’s streaming app DisneyNow on October 6th at 10PM.
Netflix hasn’t committed to a 4th season of its terrific reboot of the 1975-1984 sitcom One Day at a Time, kids, so fire up your Netflix and watch because it’s terrific!
The Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer scores are a whopping 100% fresh score for seasons two and three, and a 97% score on season one.
#ODAAT fans, we need your help. We adore this show and the representation and perspectives we get to bring to TV. So, if you’d like a S4, let @netflix know! Get your friends to watch! Spread the word! #RenewODAAT 🏳️🌈💃🏽👩👩👧👦❤️ https://t.co/MsvuTzx2Um— Isabella Gomez (@Isabella_Gomez) February 20, 2019
The series has put a spotlight on depression, sexism, homophobia (there’s an openly lesbian daughter) and even more – Rita Moreno stars as the fabulously sassy grandmother, Lydia.
Watch the one minute scene below where Lydia confronts her own homophobia – brilliant!
never forget when One Day At A Time gave us this important and iconic scene #renewODAAT pic.twitter.com/LDmCgnD4U6— #RenewODAAT (@karlarhee) February 21, 2019
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| Billy Porter as “Pray Tell” on POSE |
GLAAD recently released its 14th annual Where We Are on TV report; a comprehensive forecast of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer (LGBTQ) characters expected in primetime scripted programming in the 2018-19 television season.
This is the 23rd year GLAAD has tracked the presence of LGBTQ characters on television.
First time since GLAAD began tracking these statistics, there are more LGBTQ people of color (50%) than white LGBTQ people (49%) on broadcast television.
Of the 857 regular characters on broadcast scripted primetime programming, 75 identified as LGBTQ. Additionally, there were 38 recurring LGBTQ characters.
Netflix had the highest number of LGBTQ characters on streaming platforms, and FX was the top cable network thanks to this year’s LGBTQ-themed series Pose and The Assassination of Gianni Versace.
It’s great to hit record highs, but GLAAD is pushing for even more visibility on television with a 2-year goal of 10% of series regular characters on primetime broadcast television being LGBTQ.