GLAAD: 2017 Hollywood Films Fall Short on LGBTQ Representation
GLAAD, the media-monitoring organisation that tracks LGBTQ representation in film and television, released its 2017 findings showing that the major Hollywood studios made only limited progress in depicting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer characters on the big screen. The report surveyed 109 wide-release films and concluded that LGBTQ characters appeared in only 14 of them — just 12.8% of releases. That share represents a decline from 2016, when 18.4% of films featured LGBTQ characters, and is the lowest percentage GLAAD has recorded since it began these surveys in 2012.
Beyond the headline figure, GLAAD’s analysis highlights how minimal many of the representations were. Of the 14 films that included LGBTQ characters, half (seven films) featured those characters for less than five minutes of screen time. Such fleeting portrayals raise questions about whether inclusion in name alone translates into meaningful representation or visibility that audiences can recognise and relate to.
GLAAD’s president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, emphasised the need for sustained improvement and measurable goals. She urged studios to increase the proportion of releases that include LGBTQ characters to 20% by 2021 and to 50% by 2024. Ellis made clear that representation is not only a matter of fairness but also of business relevance: to stay connected with diverse audiences, Hollywood must tell stories that reflect the experiences of LGBTQ people and their families.
“If Hollywood wants to remain relevant with these audiences and keep them buying tickets, it must create stories that reflect the world LGBTQ people and their friends and family know.”
Several high-profile superhero and franchise films received criticism for failing to translate queer source material to the screen. Superhero releases such as Thor: Ragnarok and Wonder Woman were singled out for omitting the sexualities of characters who, in some source material or fan interpretation, had queer identities. The comedy CHIPS was criticised for using queer-coded characters as the butt of jokes, reinforcing harmful stereotypes rather than offering authentic representation.
GLAAD’s report also examined the demographics of the LGBTQ characters that did appear. Out of 28 identified characters across the surveyed films, 16 were played by people of colour — a notable shift from 2016 when people of colour made up roughly 20% of those roles. In 2017, people of colour accounted for 56% of the LGBTQ characters in major-studio releases. Men portrayed 64% of the monitored LGBTQ characters, and notably, there were no transgender characters in any major studio release that year.
The organisation’s report distinguished between major studios and smaller distributors or specialty labels. Studio subsidiaries and smaller distributors — entities such as the arthouse and specialty arms that release independent films — were not counted with the majors in the main tally. When those smaller distributors are considered separately, LGBTQ characters appeared in 28% of their releases (11 of 40), up from 17% in 2016. That contrast suggests that independent and specialty films continue to lead the major studios in on-screen inclusion.
GLAAD assigned grades to the major Hollywood studios based on their 2017 output, reflecting the organisation’s assessment of each studio’s performance on LGBTQ inclusion. The studios were graded as follows:
- 20th Century Fox – Insufficient
- Universal – Insufficient
- Disney – Poor
- Paramount – Poor
- Sony – Poor
- Lionsgate – Fail
- Warner Bros. – Fail
These assessments and the underlying data underscore an important industry challenge: while a small number of mainstream releases included LGBTQ characters in 2017, many of those portrayals were brief, sidelined, or presented in ways that failed to advance nuanced visibility. GLAAD’s recommendations aim to shift studio practices, encouraging Hollywood to build inclusive storytelling into the development process so that LGBTQ people appear on-screen in substantive, varied, and authentic roles.
For advocates, creators, and audiences, the 2017 report is both a snapshot of missed opportunities and a roadmap for progress: expanding the quantity and quality of LGBTQ representation across mainstream films remains an essential step toward a more inclusive and commercially relevant film industry.