Queer off screen: The lamest LGBTQI depictions in recent movies
This pride month we’re looking back at LGBTQI representation in Hollywood. GLAAD’s annual tracking continues to show that the quantity and quality of those portrayals in major studio releases remains a stubborn problem. The organization’s Where We Are in Film report, the latest iteration of what used to be called the Studio Responsibility Index, makes clear that the post-2017 rebound never turned into sustained progress.
The original Vito Russo Test still functions as a useful benchmark. It asks whether an LGBTQI character is identifiable, whether that character exists for reasons beyond their identity alone, and whether they matter to the story. The test’s criteria have not changed, even as GLAAD’s methodology has shifted toward tracking screen time and narrative weight. The through-line from the 2017 findings to today is that low numbers and thin characterizations keep recurring.
Post-Peak Decline: Representation Trends Since 2022
After the 2017 low point, representation climbed to a recorded high of 28.5 percent of major studio releases in 2022. The following three years brought steady erosion. The 2025 data set showed inclusion at 20.4 percent across 225 tracked films. The absolute count of LGBTQI characters fell from 181 in the prior year’s analysis to 112. Those figures indicate that the modest gains of the early 2020s have reversed rather than consolidated.
Transgender Representation in Major Studio Films
The 2017 report documented zero transgender characters in the films it examined. Recent cycles have not corrected that absence. Only two transgender characters appeared across all 2023 major studio releases. The 2025 data set counted none across its full slate of 225 films. The pattern suggests that the barrier to meaningful trans inclusion has not moved in the way other areas of representation briefly did.
Diversity Within LGBTQ Characters
Quality concerns extend beyond raw totals. In the 2024 data, characters of color made up 36 percent of the LGBTQI total, the lowest share since 2019. Characters identified as having a disability accounted for only 4 percent. Screen time metrics also slipped, with just 27 percent of counted characters receiving more than ten minutes on screen. These numbers point to persistent gaps in the kinds of stories that reach theaters.
Genre Disparities in Inclusion
Genre remains a reliable predictor of whether an LGBTQI character appears at all. Comedy films posted the highest inclusion rate at 45 percent in the 2024 analysis. Animated and family titles sat at the opposite end, with an 8 percent inclusion rate and zero LGBTQI characters in several PG-and-under releases. The spread shows that certain corners of the studio slate continue to treat LGBTQI presence as optional or off-limits.
GLAAD has adjusted its own reporting framework, moving away from studio letter grades and toward categories that measure narrative significance. That shift reflects an attempt to capture whether characters function as more than background signals. The data still shows that many LGBTQI figures remain marginal to the plots they inhabit. Pride month coverage tends to celebrate visibility, yet the studio record suggests the industry has not made consistent room for characters who are both present and consequential.
