Study: US TV Series Showing More Gays, Lesbians
Associated Press
Sep 23, 2008
NEW YORK - Series on American television will have 16 gay and bisexual regular characters in this fall during prime-time hours, more than double the seven of a year ago, a new study has found.
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said it was a positive sign of networks making their shows more representative, although more work needed to be done. These characters accounted for 2.6 percent of all the regular characters in TV series, up from 1.1 percent last year and 1.3 percent in 2006, according to the study, released Monday.
A total of 19 recurring characters, those who appear only time to time, fit the category, GLAAD said. That's up from 13 a year ago. Between regular and recurring characters, that's the most GLAAD has counted during its 13 years of monitoring networks for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender representation.
The number of regular characters fitting the definition fell from 40 to 32 on mainstream cable networks, a count that doesn't include the gay-oriented networks Logo and here!
There were no lesbians among the regular characters, according to GLAAD. But there are five bisexual women, including the characters of Callie Torres and Erica Hahn on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy."
"As the networks gradually add characters from all backgrounds and all walks of life to prime-time programming, more and more Americans are seeing their LGBT friends and neighbors reflected on the small screen," GLAAD President Neil Giuliano said.
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Copyright 2008 by Associated Press
