Record 10.2 Percent of TV Characters Are LGBT, New Report Shows

A record 10.2 percent of regular characters on primetime broadcast television shows in their current seasons are LGBTQ, according to a new report that also calls on the networks to aim for 20 percent by the year 2025.

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s annual “Where We Are On TV” report examines the presence of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters on broadcast and cable television. It is the 24th year GLAAD has released the report. 

Last year, 8.8 percent of regular characters on primetime broadcast TV were LGBTQ, and GLAAD subsequently issued a challenge for the networks to reach 10 percent. 

“In a single year, broadcast surpassed that goal, climbing to a record-high 10.2 percent of broadcast series regulars being LGBTQ characters,” the report says.

A total of 90 regular characters in the 2019-20 primetime broadcast season are LGBTQ, according to the report, while 792 are straight. 

Shows with LGBTQ representation include The CW’s Batwoman, in which the title character is lesbian, the CW’s Riverdale (Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz are lesbian), ABC’s Stumptown (Dex is bisexual), ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy(Doctors Levi Schmitt, Nico Kim and Casey Parker  are gay), Fox’s 9-1-1: Lone Star (Paul Strickland is transgender) and NBC’s Good Girls (Isaiah Stannard is transgender). 

“The role of television in changing…