GLAAD’s Studio Responsibility Index Report Reveals Netflix And Disney Produced The Most Films With LGBTQ Content In 2022
Jacob Smith
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It’s that time of the year again, the time were LGBTQ watchdog organization GLAAD rates major Hollywood studios on just how LGBTQ content they are squeezing into their films and television content.
7 November 2017; Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO, GLAAD, on the Forum Stage during the opening day of Web Summit 2017 at Altice Arena in Lisbon. Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Web Summit via Sportsfile
Responsible for the increasing push of gay, transgender, and non-binary content produced for big and small screens across the world, GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis is the face and voice behind Hollywood’s largest LGBTQ lobby
For the last ten years, GLAAD has conducted an annual Studio Responsibility Index which track just how woke Hollywood is and while every major studio is pushing LGBTQ content, some major studios in the eyes of GLAAD is doing a better job than others.
Billy Cranston (David Yost) and Zack Taylor (Walter Jones) suit up once more in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always (2023), Netflix
“Of the 350 films released theatrically and on tracked streaming services by the ten distributors counted in 2022, 100 (28.5 percent) were LGBTQ-inclusive,” GLAAD reveals in their report, noting that this is “the highest percentage and number recorded in this report.”
This report shows an 8 percent increase in LGBTQ representation from last year’s report, GLAAD further specified.
“Of the 100 LGBTQ-inclusive films released in 2022, 55 (55 percent) included gay men, 45 (45 percent) included lesbians, 21 (21 percent) included bisexual+ characters, 12 (12 percent) included transgender characters, and 17 (17 percent) included queer characters that don’t fall specifically into those other labels,” the report also revealed.
Studio Responsibility Index 2023 via GLAAD
The report shows that the genre of Comedy and Drama had over 40% of their film be “LGBTQ-inclusive” which is two times as many as the #3 genre of Horror.
When the report goes deeper into what studios are responsible for putting more gay and transgender characters on screen, Disney and Netflix are the two studios leading the rainbow charge.
Studio Responsibility Index 2023 via GLAAD
The Walt Disney Company scored 41% (the second highest rating in the report) for featuring 24 “LGBTQ-inclusive” films out of 59. With a total of 107 films in 2022, Netflix received a “Fair” rating with a 22% which amounts to 24 “LGBTQ-inclusive” films, matching Disney in the number of films “LGBTQ-inclusive” films.
Disney and Netflix feature the most “LGBTQ-inclusive” films out of any other studios.
Buzz (Chris Evans) looks on as Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and her wife, Kiko, attend their son’s college graduation in Lightyear, Pixar Animation Studios (2022) via Blu-ray
Regarding GLAAD’s own definition of ‘favorable’ ratings, Disney, NBC Universal, and A24 received the best rating of “Good” in the report for having at least 1/3 of all film content supporting LGBTQ representation. Warner Bros Discovery received the best percentage out of any other studio with 42% or 8 of their 19 films to be “LGBTQ-inclusive.”
The only studio to receive a “Poor” rating was Lionsgate, featuring only one “LGBTQ-inclusive” film out of the six cinematic projects they produced in 2022.
(from left) Aaron (Luke Macfarlane) and Bobby (Billy Eichner) in Bros, co-written, produced and directed by Nicholas Stoller.
GLAAD specifically brings attention to Clerks III, for teasing LGBTQ representation but not committing to it, noting that the film has a scene “where the protagonist’s deceased wife mentioned the men and women she slept with in heaven.”
“It reads as more a throwaway joke than real representation,” they complained, adding, “GLAAD urges Lionsgate to make efforts for solid and meaningful LGBTQ representation in future projects.”
Tenzing Norgay Trainor as Parker Rooney, Joey Bragg as Joey Rooney, and Dove Cameron as Maddie Roonie in Liv and Maddie Season 2 Episode 15 Repeat-a-Rooney (2015), Disney Channel
Along with scoring film studios, GLAAD is also using The Vito Russo Test to rate individual movies on just how “LGBTQ-inclusive” they are, which stipulates that a film can only be approved if it meets all four of the following criteria:
1. The film contains a character that is identifiably lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer.
2. That character must not be solely or predominantly defined by their sexual orientation or gender identity (i.e. they are comprised of the same sort of unique character traits commonly used to differentiate straight/cisgender characters from one another).
3. The LGBTQ character must be tied to the plot in such a way that the character’s removal would have a significant effect, meaning the character is not there to simply provide colorful commentary, paint urban authenticity, or set up a punchline. The character must matter.
4. The LGBTQ character’s story must not be outwardly offensive (avoids defaulting to well-known tropes or stereotypes with no further development). In films with multiple LGBTQ characters, at least one character must pass this point for the film to pass the test.
MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) works as an assistant to his sister, Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) after their family disowned him for being gay in Jungle Cruise (2021), Disney
According to GLAAD, 100 out of all 350 Hollywood movies released in 2022 were “LGBTQ-inclusive” films. Of those 100 films, only 77 passed the organization’s Vito Russo Test, or a 77% of all “LGBTQ-inclusive” movies. 2022 saw the number percentage of Hollywood films with “LGBTQ inclusion” increase by 10%, from 12% in 2021 to 22% in 2022.
Furthermore, the percentage of films passing the Vito Russo Test increased from 56% to 77%.
Studio Responsibility Index 2023 – Vito Russo Test via GLAAD
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Sarah Kate Ellis commented on the findings in the report, declaring, “We know that the stories told in those films have been an inextricable part of a culture-shift seen and experienced by the LGBTQ community with support for LGBTQ people and acceptance at an all-time high.”
Characters in a “throuple” in ‘Bros,’ Universal Pictures
She continues, “Hollywood has accelerated acceptance for LGBTQ people worldwide with stories including Blockers, Love, Simon, Booksmart, Strange World, Bros, Fire Island, Anything’s Possible, and many more.”
There is no doubt that Hollywood is shaping a culture by using Hollywood as a tool to promote a favorable view of LGBTQ agenda and Hollywood is promoting it at an historic level in the industry.
2 May 2017; Tyler Oakley, Creator & Digital Entrepreneur, left, and Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD, at the Centre Stage during Collision 2017 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo by Diarmuid Greene / Collision / Sportsfile
What are your thoughts on the GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index?
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