This year marks the 20th edition of GLAAD’s Emmy award-winning Where We Are on TV report. The goal has always been clear: representation on TV matters, and it pushes the cultural conversation forward. In the first report–before same sex marriage was legalized, before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was overturned–GLAAD found only 47 LGBTQ characters on TV, a majority of them supporting roles who did not represent the full spectrum of our community. In setting out to create this year’s report, our research team wanted to show just how much progress has been made in terms of representation over the last two decades; while still showing how much further there is to go. There has been a pullback when it comes to intentional inclusive storytelling, this study aims to highlight just how short-sighted this is: these characters resonate with audiences across the board and it is a mistake to not include nuances and diverse LGBTQ characters on TV. It is impossible to push for further representation without measuring what exists in the moment, and that is what Where We Are on TV aims to do–for its 20th edition and for decades to come.
For the 20th edition, GLAAD continued the work tracking lesbian, gay, bisexual+, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters on scripted broadcast, cable, and streaming series for the 2024-25 television season. For every character, GLAAD tracks regular or recurring status, sexual orientation, gender identity, race or ethnicity, HIV status, and disability status, and if the series will return. GLAAD tracks all broadcast and cable networks and original streaming programming on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Hulu, MAX, Netflix, Paramount+, and Peacock.
For this year’s study, GLAAD took a specific look at which characters were not returning next year. As the television industry evolves, our work must as well. More series are getting cancelled after one or two seasons, and WWATV looked at the series that would not be renewed, and what that met for LGBTQ representation. Overall, the picture painted left a lot to be desired. Specifically, in trans representation, only four of the 33 characters tracked were set to return.
Representation has real life consequences in the world around us. Our research shows that if someone doesn't know an LGBTQ person in real life, seeing them on screen is the next best option on the path to acceptance. It is particularly disheartening tha–as the media and politicians spread hateful rhetoric about trans people unchecked–trans representation on TV is declining. We do this work to highlight how representation is reflective of the world around us and how more LGBTQ characters on TV can make the world more accepting. This report exists to have cold hard data on these numbers decline and to point to the necessity of trans characters.
It was a challenge this year to both acknowledge the challenges and gaps in representation on TV, while still celebrating the progress made over the last 20 years. We went from 47 characters tracked to 489, and made note of this in the report, while still making it clear that 489 is down from the record high in the 2021-2022 season. Further, we launched a social campaign, highlighting significant LGBTQ characters of the past two decades. All of this while also calling attention to the series that have unknown cancellation status, and why they should continue on.
The results and the rollout of Where We Are on TV both showed the progress that was made, and what was yet to come. It resonated with both the television industry, and the LGBTQ community. We cannot move what we cannot measure, so it was very important that we highlighted that there is a real deficit when it comes to transgender representation. GLAAD is the only organization tracking LGBTQ inclusion in TV at this high of a level, and it is paramount we continue to do so, so the data can propel real change.
Overall, when the report was released, the coverage in major trades garnered 900K UMV, and it continues to be cited months after release, as it lives year round as a source of truth for LGBTQ representation in television. When LGBTQ series saw success this year, such as Heated Rivalry or Pluribus, this data was cited and it continues to be cited around conversations of inclusion in television.