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LGBT

In 2015, the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative began evaluating the prevalence of characters from the LGBT community on screen in media. We also look intersectionally at gender, race/ethnicity, and LGBT characters, including at how individuals are portrayed. See the following studies for more information on the representation of the LGBT community.

Yearly Reports on LGBT Characters On-Screen in Film

2020: Inequality in 1,300 Popular Films

  • Annual report on gender, race/ethnicity, LGBT status, and disability in film. Includes data on representation and employment patterns in popular films (2007-2019).

View previous reports:

Reports on Gender in Film, TV, Digital Content (the CARD report)

2014-15: PDF icon Inclusion or Invisibility? The Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity (CARD)  PDF icon (Full Report)

  • Report examines film, television, and digital content. The study ranks companies based on inclusivity on screen and behind-the camera.

Reports on Specific Areas of Entertainment

2023: PDF icon Exploring Inclusion in Snapchat Content

  • The study was conducted in partnership with the Media Neuroscience Lab (MNL), University of California, Santa Barbara, and sponsored by Snap. The analysis is a multi-year, first-of-its-kind representation audit of English-language partnered content on Snapchat (content from traditional and digital native media partners). The team used a combination of computational methods and human assessors to understand how well gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+, and disability were represented in Snapchat content. 

Inclusion in Netflix Series and Films

2023: Inclusion in Netflix Series and Films: 2018–2021

  • The Initiative analyzed Netflix’s U.S. original live-action films (249) and series (297) from 2018 to 2021. The study examined on-screen inclusion across gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+ and disability. Behind the camera, gender and race/ethnicity of key personnel were assessed.
  • Read the original executive summary, covering films and series from 2018 and 2019 and the full report.