GLAAD’s Where We Are in Film is the new name and the same great research as our Studio Responsibility Index, a comprehensive study that GLAAD has conducted for over a decade, analyzing the quantity, quality, and diversity of major studio films. With the current uncertainty in the major film distributors, it is a critical time to focus our research on inclusion in film, and looking at where LGBTQ inclusion succeeds and where it falls short. For the 2026 report, we also wanted to highlight the LGBTQ-inclusive films that were finding success both in the studio system and outside the studio system, and note the trends among the films tracked in this study.
GLAAD analyzed 225 films from 10 top distributors (A24, Amazon MGM Studios, Apple TV+, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Skydance, Sony, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros. Discovery, and their subsidiaries) in the 2025 calendar year. Overall, we found that 225 films (20.4%) contained even a single LGBTQ character. This is the third year in a row of declines. Further, there was zero transgender representation in any major studio film from 2025.
Right now, no one else is giving this deep and comprehensive look at representation of LGBTQ people in film the way this report does. In addition to looking at the overall numbers, we look at race, gender, ability, HIV status, genre of film, budget of film, and more. We give observations at specific intersections, such as the first characters in three years living with HIV, and the financial success of LGBTQ-inclusive horror films, to show that there is a nuanced picture being painted here about the state of film that goes beyond headlines.
The data overall paints a picture of a decline in LGBTQ representation and specifically transgender representation, when it is more important than ever to see these communities on the big screen. Further, at this current moment, there is a wave of independent film coming from LGBTQ artists that are succeeding in festivals across the globe. Our challenge was to position these findings, point out how dire they were, while still pointing to the talent and creativity in the film world. We did this through a traditional release of the report, getting coverage that hit over 1.6B UVM, while also having a private virtual briefing for creators and filmmakers to give this data directly to them for it to inform their work. Further, GLAAD pushed out a campaign based on this data where we highlighted prominent LGBTQ filmmakers, and up and coming LGBTQ creatives they are excited to watch. We both want to give the industry the cold, hard information about where they need to improve, while showing that there is talent that is ready and willing to do the work and make LGBTQ films that will see success.
Where We Are in Film not only pointed out what was missing in major studio films, but provided a path forward. We highlighted the LGBTQ-incluisve films that saw success within the studio system, and the inclusive films that are currently seeing great success outside of it. This study doesn’t just exist when it comes out, but it exists year round as a benchmark for films to go off of. In GLAAD’s conversations with our studio partners, with filmmakers in the business, and with LGBTQ film fans, we are expanding the conversation and demonstrating that LGBTQ films are not only important on a representation level, but are financially successful and sustainable. The message got across that the real risk isn’t inclusion–it’s exclusion.