A new GLAAD report says LGBTQ characters on scripted US television fell by a quarter in the 2025–26 season, even as inclusive programmes found audiences. The organisation counted 369 characters across broadcast, cable and streaming, with no transgender characters expected to return next season. The figures sharpen a familiar question: why does representation remain fragile when popular shows can draw wide attention?
GLAAD reports a steep drop in TV representation
The headline finding is a smaller presence on screen: GLAAD says it counted 369 LGBTQ characters in scripted broadcast, cable and streaming series that premiered during the 2025–26 season. That’s 120 fewer than the 489 counted in the previous season, a reported fall of 25%.
The organisation also says characters of colour made up 44% of the total, down from 51% the year before and the lowest share in eight years. These figures come from GLAAD’s annual tracking study, which examines a defined season and set of scripted programmes rather than every character on television.
Transgender characters face an especially stark gap
Of the 369 characters counted, GLAAD reports that seven were transgender: six women and one man. None is expected to return in the following season, according to the organisation.
GLAAD also counted no characters living with HIV. It says 141 LGBTQ characters, or 38% of the total, won’t return because their series ended or were cancelled, they appeared in limited series, or their characters left or died. It’s a reminder that representation can disappear not only through a change in commissioning, but also when individual stories reach their end.
Popular shows offer a contrast
The report points to LGBTQ-inclusive titles that have attracted attention, including Heated Rivalry, Pluribus and The Hunting Wives, alongside Stranger Things and Hazbin Hotel. GLAAD describes the first three as commercial or cultural successes, while also citing strong audience demand for the latter two.
There’s independent context for the broader business case. Nielsen’s analysis of LGBTQ-inclusive entertainment says some titles reach broad audiences and can draw comparatively strong viewing from households made up of two adults of the same gender. Nielsen cautions that this household measure is a proxy, not a way to identify individual viewers’ identities, and says some comparisons rely on small samples.
What the annual figures do, and don’t, tell us
GLAAD’s previous edition counted 489 characters for the 2024–25 season, using a defined sample of scripted broadcast, cable and streaming programmes. That earlier report is useful context, but its numbers shouldn’t be treated as a full census of television, or as confirmation of the latest report’s claims.
The latest release also attributes audience-interest figures to MRI-Simmons, including claims about Gen Z and LGBTQ representation. The public-facing MRI-Simmons page describes its 2026 youth research but doesn’t show those particular statistics, so they can’t be independently checked from that page alone.
Representation matters, but the evidence has limits
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis argues that cutting LGBTQ stories runs against audience demand, while Nick Adams, the organisation’s vice-president of the GLAAD Media Institute, says the absence of returning transgender characters is particularly concerning. Those are GLAAD’s views; the supplied material doesn’t provide an independently accessible full 2025–26 report to verify its detailed counts.
Other research suggests authenticity can matter commercially, though the evidence isn’t a direct test of TV audiences. UCLA reported that a study of people aged 13–24 found film franchises rated above average for authentic representation earned more at the box office than those with average ratings. It’s a different medium and a different measure, but it adds a useful note: audiences may care not just whether characters appear, but whether their stories feel convincing.
The next season will show whether the reported drop is a temporary dip or part of a longer pattern.
Closing Line
A count can’t capture every story, but it can show when too many are at risk of disappearing.
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