Film Studios Get Bad Grades In GLAAD’s Latest LGBTQ Inclusivity Report, But “Significant Progress” Made In Past Decade
deadline.comHollywood’s seven major film studios all received bad grades in GLAAD’s latest report card on LGBTQ inclusivity. The group’s 10th annual Studio Responsibility Index report (read it here) found that the percentage of LGBTQ-inclusive films released by the major distributors decreased in 2021 from 2020, as did the percentage of LGBTQ women and characters of color and the screen time they were allotted.
None of the studios received a “good” or “excellent” grade. Paramount and Lionsgate received “failing” grades for not containing a single identifiably LGBTQ character in any of the films they released in 2021.
Warner Bros. received the second-lowest grade of “poor,” while Disney, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures and United Artists Releasing each received a grade of “insufficient.” Even so, there has been “significant progress” over the past decade, as GLAAD CEO & President Sarah Kate Ellis wrote in her introduction to the report, noting that “the percentage of LGBTQ-inclusive films has grown by 50%” during the past 10 years “as GLAAD has set industry priorities and best practices.” “At a time when the LGBTQ community is under unprecedented attacks, it is more important than ever to hold studios and corporations accountable,” Ellis said in a statement. “LGBTQ people deserve to have positive representation reflected in cinemas around the world, and to know that the people and companies who make and market LGBTQ-inclusive films unequivocally stand up for LGBTQ folks.” In the past 10 years, she noted in the report, “We have seen significant progress in mainstream film’s inclusivity, propelled forward by the data and insights of our SRI studies and ongoing partnerships with top studios and creatives.
