Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Film | July 10, 2026
A recent study released by GLAAD reported that the number of LGBTQ+ characters in feature films has declined for the third year running. The report, called Where We Are in Film, is based on data take from films released by the 10 largest studio distributors (including Apple, Warner Bros. Discovery, Netflix, and Paramount) from January 1st to December 31st 2025. Of the 225 films released last year, 46 contained LGBTQ characters, or 20.4%. In 2024, that number was 59 out of 250 films. For 2023, it was 112.
GLAAD also reported that there were no LGBTQ characters in the 19 films categorized as animated/family films rated PG and under, and no transgender characters featured in the crop of 225 films from the 10 largest studio distributors. While there were bright spots in horrors like Weapons and I Know What You Did Last Summer, it's clear that big-budget tentpoles quickly gave up on even the perception of progressiveness in their works.
Sadly, I don't think any of us are surprised about this. Hollywood's mainstream model has never prized inclusivity and any progress it's made has been both maddeningly incremental and quickly rolled back the moment they had an excuse to do so. Often, the big studios would make a song and dance about a radical step forward with something like LeFou from Beauty and the Beast being gay, then showing that with a half-second scene where he sort of looks longingly at a random dude. But even that's been stripped away over the past couple of years.
Why? Well, there's the obvious political side of it. Trump loves to get mad at pop culture stuff, which he seems far more fervent about than real politics, and his base has long been empowered by nonsense "culture war" abuse organised by hate groups who turned lady Ghostbusters into a doxing-worthy issue. We're in the midst of a horrendous anti-LGBTQ+ pushback, culturally and legislatively, with trans people in particular being thrown under the bus. The usual suspects have made the mere existence of a queer person on-screen, regardless of what they're saying and doing, a toxic notion, comparable to child abuse. They're backed up by a lot of money too.
Mostly, though, it's a reminder that mainstream corporatized entertainment structures have never cared about marginalised communities. They pay lip service to diversity when it becomes too embarrassing for them to ignore, then drop it like a hot potato when the wind blows in the other direction. They'll even set their own money on fire to make it happen. Just look at how Pixar threw Elio and its gay director, Adrian Molina, under the bus with reshoots that cut out LGBTQ+ themes. As the company's boss, Pete Docter, justified it, "We're making a movie, not hundreds of millions of dollars of therapy."
Bigots love to play victim and claim that marginalised communities are "over-represented" in pop culture, which is their way of saying that even one queer person on-screen is too much. That the industry seems more eager to appease them than the majority of people who do not suck is bleak but unsurprising. Audiences are more likely to turn to indie works for what they need, but the big studios have all but killed off mid-budget works and opportunities for new creators are more limited than ever. When exceptions happen and break out big time, it doesn't inspire the media monopolies to follow in their footsteps. Heated Rivalry became a mega-hit and now everyone else is making hockey romances but with straight couples. How telling.
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