GLAAD Study Finds LGBT Representation on TV Is Up, But Lacking Diversity

Transparent may have won five Emmys this year, but LGBT representation on television still has a long way to go, according to a new GLAAD study.

The organization released its annual Where We Are on TV report on Tuesday, which analyzes diversity during the 2015-2016 broadcast and cable season. The report found that the number of LGBT characters on cable increased from 64 to 84 and that broadcast features 4 percent LGBT characters (35 out of 881 series regular roles). For the first time, GLAAD also included streaming services like Amazon, Hulu and Netflix, which boast 43 series regulars and 16 recurring LGBT characters across only 23 series.

Streaming series also have the highest percentage of trans characters at 7 percent, with two of the four roles on streaming shows being series leads. GLAAD found that cable featured only three recurring trans characters, while broadcast featured none.

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But while LGBT representation is slightly up, there is a stark lack of diversity. Overall racial diversity did increase six points from last year, but is still at only 33 percent for broadcast series. This year, 16 percent of characters are black (145 total),making it the highest number of black characters on broadcast GLAAD has ever counted. However, only 59 of those characters are women.

The overall representation of women rose to 43 percent of regular characters on broadcast shows. This is a three-point increase from last year, but is still an underrepresentation of the country, which is 51 percent female.

Check out our favorite LGBT characters below: