Report: LGBT Characters in Film Fall to Record Low

GLAAD has released its annual Studio Responsibility Index -- an annual report card that measures LGBT diversity in Hollywood. And it looks like Hollywood is failing.

Of the 109 films released in 2017 from the seven major studios, only 14 -- or 12.8 percent -- included LGBT characters. This is the lowest percentage since 2012, when the media organization began monitoring representation. Moreover, none of these characters were transgender.

There was a silver lining in the report -- an uptick in the representation of LGBT people of color, accounting for 57 percent of queer characters. Yet even then, none of these roles were Asian or Pacific Islander.

"With wildly successful films like Wonder Woman and Black Panther proving that audiences want to see diverse stories that haven't been told before, there is simply no reason for major studios to have such low scores on the Studio Responsibility Index," said Sarah Kate Ellis, the CEO of GLAAD, in a statement.

"At a time when the entertainment industry is holding much-needed discussions about inclusion, now is the time to ensure the industry takes meaningful action and incorporates LGBTQ stories and creators as among priorities areas for growing diversity," she added.

GLAAD is asking major studios to set goals for increasing LGBT representation in films: 20 percent of characters by 2021, and 50 percent by 2024.

Using its "Vito Russo Test," GLAAD assigns grades to major studios based on the quantity, diversity, and quality of LGBT representation: Excellent, Good, Insufficient (Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox), Poor (Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Walt Disney Studios), or Failing (Lionsgate Entertainment and Warner Brothers).

No studios were graded Excellent or Good. In fact, no studio has ever been rated as Excellent.

See the full report at GLAAD.org.