Current Events > LGBTQ Characters Are Dropping Across Broadcast, Cable and Streaming Networks

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/glaad-tv-study-gay-characters-decreasing-where-we-are-on-television-1235886270/

Prolly just leveling out to more accurately represent the population? Idk

Statistical studies suggest that roughly 3% of all humans are gay. Depending on where youre at that number would be more or less, but in general that is the number. By that, its a decently rare occurrences

Won't stop the Boy Who Cried WOKE

Dyinglegacy posted...

Prolly just leveling out to more accurately represent the population? Idk

You know that's not the reason.

The dip, however, can partially be attributed to the decreasing number of primetime scripted series overall on broadcast television. The 2022-23 TV season featured 88 shows, while there are 64 series that were counted for this recent study.

:V

Dyinglegacy posted...

Prolly just leveling out to more accurately represent the population? Idk

Statistical studies suggest that roughly 3% of all humans are gay. Depending on where youre at that number would be more or less, but in general that is the number. By that, its a decently rare occurrences

MUCH higher in the US and Europe, which drives most movies and shows

here we go

UnholyMudcrab posted...

You know that's not the reason.

Pretend I dont know why and you enlighten me.

They were being added to make up for lost time more of less. Its nor like every show needs them. Yes certain groups will see this as a win, but that's not why this is happening.

bsp77 posted...

MUCH higher in the US and Europe, which drives most movies and shows

7.1 %

over double so that is pretty high compared to 3% globally.

Even though it is higher, I dont see how it would drive most movies and shows.

The dip, however, can partially be attributed to the decreasing number of primetime scripted series overall on broadcast television.

Looks like at least a part of it is the increase in reality TV and game shows, especially on Network TV, where there aren't really "characters" to assign sexuality to.

Could also be the simple fact that identifying a characters sexuality isn't necessary for newer shows that are being introduced.

Dyinglegacy posted...

Pretend I dont know why and you enlighten me.

You think they did some sort of statistical evaluation and said : "Hmmmm...we are currently 4.1% over-representing the LGBTQ community. We need to dial it back!!"

bigblu89 posted...

Looks like at least a part of it is the increase in reality TV and game shows, especially on Network TV, where there aren't really "characters" to assign sexuality to.

Could also be the simple fact that identifying a characters sexuality isn't necessary for newer shows that are being introduced.

This makes a lot of sense too

Sandalorn posted...

You think they did some sort of statistical evaluation and said :"Hmmmm...we are currently 8.5% over-representing the LGBTQ community. We need to dial it back!!"

then what did they do

How much of that was just from Sex Education ending.

Dyinglegacy posted...

Prolly just leveling out to more accurately represent the population? Idk

Ah, the old levelling out over time phenomenon that always happens in the media.

That's why just over 50% of roles are played by women, isn't it?

Raikuro posted...

How much of that was just from Sex Education ending.

OK, that legit made me lol.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Maybe. Its difficult to know. I just googled %of gay people and got that number. I mean, how do you even get that number to begin with? A survey? People can be dishonest in surveys and theres no way to test everyone so you just end up guessing in the end.

Yeah. Maybe so as not to offend other groups we need to ban:

- Consumption of meat on screen. Cause show such promotes eating dead animals.

- Holidays. Don't want to upset those who see them as ungodly.

bigblu89 posted...

Looks like at least a part of it is the increase in reality TV and game shows, especially on Network TV, where there aren't really "characters" to assign sexuality to.

The study only looked at scripted shows, not reality TV.

Where We Are on TV, a report from the media watchdog group that analyzes the number of LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on scripted primetime broadcast, scripted primetime cable and scripted series on eight major streaming platforms

Though the total number of scripted shows were fewer, that wouldn't explain the percentage drop in LGBT characters.

ai123 posted...

Ah, the old levelling out over time phenomenon that always happens in the media.

That's why just over 50% of roles are played by women, isn't it?

iunno

its why I had a question mark at the end of what you quoted. Because I dont know

do you know?

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

Maybe. No way to know for sure. Just your own observation will have to suffice in this case. That will vary widely depending where you are and what groups you hang out with,

Prolly not but surveys are usually anonymous. The places youre talking about likely wouldnt have this type of survey anyway. That further solidifies that theres no accurate way to know for sure. Is it higher or is it lower? Who knows

I imagined things were like this were gonna happen once Disney's chief of diversity officer "left" the company last year. People riled hard on disney these past years over their "forced diversity" and many of these movies massively underperformed, although most were mediocre and we were still coming out of covid. That said, all of these companies are about making money so if they see big sectors rejecting this then they're gonna back pedal on it.

IMO, they went a lil too much too fast on it? Hear me out first. Of course diversity is a good thing, but you have Dr strange 2 and Lightyear having characters with both moms as parents and these movies released one month apart. And these are family movies. That definitely gave some ammo to the anti woke crowd. Im fine with LGBTQ representation. Im just saying that theres a good chunk of the world thats still conservative and the approach turned them off and at the end of the day these companies are all about making lots of money.

Dyinglegacy posted...

iunno

its why I had a question mark at the end of what you quoted. Because I dont know

Just asking questions.

do you know?

I know it isn't some mysterious force bringing representative balance back to the universe.

I know that if there are fewer LGBT characters on screen, it is because of human agency. Which humans, and why they are doing it, are what is in question.

On broadcast TV, GLAAD counted 39 LGBTQ regulars featured on 64 primetime series, a drop of 31 characters, or 44 percent, from the previous years study. The dip, however, can partially be attributed to the decreasing number of primetime scripted series overall on broadcast television. The 2022-23 TV season featured 88 shows, while there are 64 series that were counted for this recent study. The story is similar on cable, where GLAAD counted 77 LGBTQ characters (regular and recurring), a decrease of 62 characters, or a drop of 45 percent, from last years 139. Thirty-eight of the 77 characters will not be returning due to endings or cancellations of the series or limited series.

28% less shows to count from lead to a ~44% decrease of characters. I don't know if that's of any concern or not, but it doesn't seem huge? Since there's fewer absolute numbers of them, percentages are going to be exaggerated a bit as well.

Dyinglegacy posted...

Statistical studies suggest that roughly 3% of all humans are gay.

Utter madness to bring up a statistic based on the human race when the post is talking about broadcast cable and streaming from Hollywood reporter.
By the same logic, only 1 in 10 characters on tv should be white.

ai123 posted...

The study only looked at scripted shows, not reality TV.

Where We Are on TV, a report from the media watchdog group that analyzes the number of LGBTQ regular and recurring characters on scripted primetime broadcast, scripted primetime cable and scripted series on eight major streaming platforms

Though the total number of scripted shows were fewer, that wouldn't explain the percentage drop in LGBT characters.

I meant how scripted shows were being cancelled and replaced by reality TV and game shows.

The article only shows the percentage of the decreases, not the percentage of how many characters are LGBTQ.

Reading the article made it sound like the shows were simply cancelled, as opposed to them replacing LGBTQ characters with non-LGBTQ characters.

I imagine the global % is artificially low due to the number of countries where being gay is not only illegal, but punishable by the death penalty (often being pushed off of a tall building)

I think there was a study that latinos are the most underrepresented in media by a decent margin

karnage87 posted...

Utter madness to bring up a statistic based on the human race when the post is talking about broadcast cable and streaming from Hollywood reporter.
By the same logic, only 1 in 10 characters on tv should be white.

it would be 7.1 % gay in that case. I just typed the first number that appeared.

UndefeatedGOAT posted...

I think there was a study that latinos are the most underrepresented in media by a decent margin

I dont see many Asians, honestly. It hard for me tell a Latino unless its super obvious at a glance. Some of them look white.

I dont know if this will open up a can of worms or not, but this study only counted characters that were confirmed to be LGBTQ.

There's A LOT of characters on TV now whose sexuality isnt part of the plot enough to even know if they are straight/gay/bi/etc.

Dyinglegacy posted...

I dont see many Asians, honestly. It hard for me tell a Latino unless its super obvious at a glance. Some of them look white.

idk ive seen an increase there, but you might be right

Dyinglegacy posted...

it would be 7.1 % gay in that case. I just typed the first number that appeared.

In the US, Gen Z report as 1 in 5 being LGBT.

So get ready for a pretty sharp cosmic readjustment.

ai123 posted...

In the US, Gen Z report as 1 in 5 being LGBT.

So get ready for a pretty sharp cosmic readjustment.

idk if gen x even controls the media yet, boomers have a death grip

ai123 posted...

In the US, Gen Z report as 1 in 5 being LGBT.

So get ready for a pretty sharp cosmic readjustment.

I think most of that comes from the B.

Some shows arguably have over representation of queer characters. I love Ghosts, it's easily my favorite sitcom on the air today and when you break down the sexual orientations of the cast it's kind of silly how many of them are gay or bi. 3/4ths of the revolutionary War ghosts are gay and it seems like half of the rest of the cast is bi.

I'm sure some of the dip is probably attributed to the CW cancelling nearly its entire library.

I don't really care. A lot of big studio stuff approach lgbt characters as boxes to check and it has always come off as really insulting to me.

Dyinglegacy posted...

7.1 %

over double so that is pretty high compared to 3% globally.

Even though it is higher, I dont see how it would drive most movies and shows.

shouldn't this just translate to like around 7% of any given cast in a specific show being gay? as opposed to factoring everything all together, all shows

ForsakenHermit posted...

I think most of that comes from the B.

Some shows arguably have over representation of queer characters. I love Ghosts, it's easily my favorite sitcom on the air today and when you break down the sexual orientations of the cast it's kind of silly how many of them are gay or bi. 3/4ths of the revolutionary War ghosts are gay and it seems like half of the rest of the cast is bi.

Is that the US remake of the British series?

IIRC only one of the original characters was gay, and the revelation of that was a plot point in one of the later series.

ai123 posted...

Is that the US remake of the British series?

IIRC only one of the original characters was gay, and the revelation of that was a plot point in one of the later series.

Yeah the US remake. Part of it stems from wanting to give Issac (the American version of the Captain) a love interest and a love triangle.

Networks see in dollar signs. They do whatever gets the most ratings.

When there's a segment of the population who boycotts anything 'woke', it has to affect sales. I showed my parents Prime video on their new TV and the home page was enough for them to write it off as woke and turn it. These people exist.

Dyinglegacy posted...

Statistical studies suggest that roughly 3% of all humans are gay. Depending on where youre at that number would be more or less, but in general that is the number. By that, its a decently rare occurrences

So why are so many characters in TV and movies men then?

General population is 51% women last I checked. WOmen only account for 42% of speaking characters on TV.

I wonder what gay main/supporting characters as a percentage of total main/supporting characters is and if that has seen similar decreases as of late.

Because there are just fewer characters on TV now than their used to be because there has been a significant drop in the number of shows. And even the shows that are on TV have fewer cast members than shows used to as a means to reduce cost.