A new study from Dr. Stacy L. Smith of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative analyzes 48,757 characters from the top 100 movies released each year between 2007 to 2017. Despite increased visibility surrounding issues of diversity and representation in entertainment, the numbers tell a different story.
“Hollywood has yet to move from talking about inclusion to meaningfully increasing on-screen representation for women, people of color, the LGBT community, or individuals with disabilities,” says Smith.
LGBT+ representation in particular is lacking. 2017 saw only 16 gay male speaking characters in the top 100 films, with just nine lesbian, six bisexual, and no transgender characters rounding out the tally. From 2014 to 2017, the 400 films evaluated featured only 1 transgender character. LGBT+ representation is also racially skewed, with 21 white LGBT+ characters out of the 31 total featured in the 2017 films studied.
Read more at Women and Hollywood