GLAAD Study Finds LGBTQ Representation on TV Took a Steep Fall Despite ‘Heated Rivalry’ Success

Television has had plenty of reasons to celebrate queer storytelling lately. Breakout hits and awards-season attention have made LGBTQ-led series some of the most talked-about shows around. A new industry study suggests the broader picture looks a lot less rosy.

Despite the success of ‘Heated Rivalry’ and multiple Emmy wins for ‘Pluribus,’ the 2025-26 season was a down year for LGBTQ representation on television. The numbers behind that statement come from a report the advocacy group GLAAD has been publishing for more than 20 years.

GLAAD’s 21st annual ‘Where We Are on TV’ report tracks characters in series that premiered a season between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026, noting character diversity and demographics. The headline figure is a steep drop. GLAAD counted 369 LGBTQ characters in total, a 25% decrease from the 489 counted in the previous season.

The study covers scripted primetime broadcast, cable and streaming original series. That means the decline isn’t confined to a single platform or genre. It reflects a broader contraction across the industry.

The most alarming finding involves trans characters. GLAAD says zero transgender characters will return to TV next year. Only 7 of the characters were trans, and none of those 7 will return in the next TV season.

That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be zero trans characters on TV this season. THR notes the shows those 7 characters appeared on aren’t continuing, either because they were limited series, were canceled or ended ongoing runs. Even so, the trend line is clear.

Racial diversity also slipped. The study found that only 44% of queer characters on TV are people of color, an eight-year low for the industry. That falls short of GLAAD’s long-standing 50% benchmark for the industry.

GLAAD challenged the industry to ensure that at least half of all LGBTQ characters are people of color, and last year they accounted for 51%. The shift is meaningful because earlier editions of the report had shown the industry meeting or approaching that goal.

The report isn’t all bad news. The number of nonbinary characters grew in 2025-26, and bisexual characters made up a greater percentage of the total, at 25%, than a year earlier. Those gains matter because bisexual representation had been declining for several years.

The drop also wasn’t as bad as GLAAD feared. The slump was smaller than the 41% decline the group projected in its 2025 report, which factored in series cancellations and character deaths or exits. Still, the loss of roughly a quarter of characters is a sizable setback.

GLAAD argues that the cuts run against what viewers want. Per Out, 58% of Gen Z agree that increasing visibility and authentic representation of LGBTQ characters is important to them. Earlier GLAAD research also found that more than half of LGBTQ Americans and 3 in 10 non-LGBTQ people say they’re more likely to watch a show if at least one character is LGBTQ.

The group points to the commercial success of ‘Heated Rivalry’ and ‘The Hunting Wives’ as evidence. GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said the message from viewers is that “authentic representation is television’s most powerful growth engine.” She called slashing LGBTQ stories while demand grows a bad business decision.

The report also warns that the slide could continue. Out reports that 38% of LGBTQ characters on TV this year are not set to return, which sets up another potential decline. That echoes a pattern GLAAD has flagged in previous years, when cancellations and ended series repeatedly erased characters from the screen.

The film side tells a similar story. GLAAD found similar declines in a study earlier this year, which reported that 2025 marked the third year in a row that LGBTQ representation in movies had declined. Taken together, the TV and film numbers point to a sustained downturn.

For studios and streamers, the question is whether the success of a few hit shows will translate into more commissions. The report suggests the industry has been cutting back at the same time that audiences are showing appetite for these stories. That tension is at the center of GLAAD’s argument.

It remains to be seen how networks and platforms will respond. The data shows both the demand and the decline, and the next season’s numbers will indicate whether the industry takes the hint.

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