GLAAD released its eighth annual Studio Responsibility Index ( SRI )a report that maps the quantity, quality and diversity of LGBTQ characters in films released by the eight film studios that had the highest theatrical grosses from films released in the 2019 calendar year and four of their subsidiaries, as reported by box office database Box Office Mojo.
These studios were Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, STX Films, United Artists Releasing, Universal Pictures, The Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros.
GLAAD found that of the 118 films released from major studios in 2019, 22 ( 18.6 percent ) included characters that were LGBTQ. This represents a slight increase from the previous year's report ( 18.2 percent, 20 out of 110 films ) and the highest percentage of inclusive films found in the eight-year history of the report.
However, there was also a continuation of a downward trend in terms of racial diversity of LGBTQ characters. There was a significant decrease in racial diversity of LGBTQ characters for the third consecutive year. In 2019, just 34 percent of LGBTQ characters were people of color ( 17 of 50 ), down from 42 percent in the previous report and a decrease of 23 percentage points from the 57 percent of LGBTQ characters of color in 2017.
And, for the third year in a row, transgender characters were entirely absent from major studio releases.
For the first time in the report's history, GLAAD also tallied LGBTQ characters with disabilities. This year, there was only one character with a disability in major releases ( Poe, from Lionsgate's Five Feet Apart ). Subsidiary releases from art-house studios counted two LGBTQ characters with disabilities, both from Sony Pictures Classics.
The full report is at GLAAD.org/sri .