The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) says Hollywood is retreating from LGBTQ representation, pointing to new research showing a decline in the number of films featuring LGBTQ characters during 2025.
The advocacy organization released its annual Where We Are in Film report, which analyzes movies produced by ten major motion picture studios. According to GLAAD, the latest findings reveal fewer LGBTQ-inclusive films, fewer LGBTQ characters overall, and the complete absence of transgender characters among the studios it tracked.
“We are in an era of increased censorship efforts – including most recently and outrageously the Federal Communications Commission opening an inquiry for public comment on whether TV ratings should warn audiences about LGBTQ families and transgender and nonbinary characters in TV programming,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis wrote. “It is clear that our advocacy must evolve to meet the gravity of this moment.”
The organization echoed that message on social media, posting, “Our stories are disappearing.”
GLAAD examined 225 films released during the 2025 calendar year. According to the report, 46 of those films included LGBTQ characters, representing 20.4 percent of all releases. That marks a decline from 2024, when GLAAD identified 59 LGBTQ-inclusive films out of 250 releases, or 23.6 percent.
The total number of LGBTQ characters also dropped sharply. GLAAD counted 112 LGBTQ characters in 2025, down from 181 the previous year. The report further noted a six percent decline in LGBTQ “characters of color.”
Ellis argued that the numbers represent more than a temporary fluctuation.
“The overall percentage of [LGBT-inclusive] films is down to 20.4%, a 28% decrease in percentage of inclusive films in just three years from the record high 28.5% of films in our 2023 study,” she wrote.
Among GLAAD’s strongest criticisms was the complete absence of transgender characters in films released by the ten studios included in the report.
“Recent editions of this study have found that almost all transgender characters counted were either portrayed offensively and/or were cast inauthentically, with cisgender actors portraying trans characters,” the report stated. “In 2025, zero films across the 10 distributors tracked included trans characters.”
The organization attributed that outcome to what it described as an increasingly hostile political environment.
“Given the current attacks on the trans community, it is extremely disappointing that studios have either released films that cause harm to the transgender community or excluded trans characters entirely, neither of which increases the familiarity and acceptance we know is the result of authentic and inclusive media representation,” the report said. “The misrepresentation and exclusion of transgender characters and stories in entertainment, while politicians and anti-LGBTQ activists are fixated on targeting trans people through misinformation, anti-trans legislation, and violence, is unconscionable.”
GLAAD also warned that studios could face business consequences if they continue reducing LGBTQ representation, particularly in content aimed at younger audiences.
“If film studios continue to ignore trans people and stories — particularly in content made for Gen Alpha, Gen Z, and Millennial audiences, who are both more likely to personally know a trans person and who are driving the box office today — these companies risk declining relevance with audiences and the loss of key demographics essential for industry sustainability,” the report stated.
The report did not provide statistical evidence linking LGBTQ representation to long-term box office performance or demonstrating that studios would lose younger audiences by reducing such content.
The findings arrive as Hollywood continues to adjust to changing audience preferences following several years of disappointing box office returns for a number of big-budget productions. Some critics have argued that studios became overly focused on political or social messaging at the expense of storytelling, while others dispute that characterization and point to broader industry challenges such as streaming competition and shifting moviegoing habits.
