GLAAD President Hoping for ‘Watershed Moment’ for Trans Community
Hunter Ingram When GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis takes the Emmys stage Jan. 15 to accept the Television Academy’s Governors Award on behalf of the advocacy organization, she will have a concise message: There is plenty of progress to celebrate and plenty more to be done.
The award, which honors a person or organization that has made a profound and long-lasting contribution to television, puts GLAAD in good company with previous recipients, including the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, Debbie Allen and Tyler Perry and his Perry Foundation. “For us at GLAAD, this is such a huge honor and a validation of our nearly 40 years of work.” Ellis tells Variety.
In its annual “Where We Are On TV” report, which has tracked LGBTQ representation for 25 years, GLAAD identified 596 LGBTQ characters (regular and recurring) across all platforms on TV in 2022-2023. “In terms of LGB representation, this honor comes at a great time,” Ellis says.
But notice she left off a few letters. Of those characters, only 32 (5.4%) were trans. “We have seen those watershed moments (for lesbian, gay and bisexual representation), whether it was Ellen DeGeneres coming out or ‘Will & Grace,’” Ellis says. “What we don’t have yet is a watershed moment for the trans community.
