Source: Frederick M. Brown / Getty
If 2018 was any proof of where entertainment is going, we’re excited to see both the television and silver screen getting way more inclusive.
According to the 2018-2019 “Where We Are on TV” survey by GLAAD, of the 857 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast scripted primetime programming this season, 75 (8.8%) were identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer. This is the highest percentage GLAAD has found in the fourteen years this report has counted all broadcast series regulars. This was also the first time that the survey found that there were more LGBTQ+ people of color represented in the past year in comparison to the history of the survey.
Check out some of the shows and movies that we loved this year that boosted these numbers, making LGBTQ+ representation a reality in Hollywood.
1
Grown-ish
In this Freeform original and black-ish spinoff, we see supporting character Mona introduced as the openly bisexual friend in the group who also ends up perpetuating biphobia when she learns the guy she’s dating is also bi.
2 Pose
Ryan Murphy’s FX show Pose broke down barriers and made history in countless ways when it premiered in June 2018. The show features the largest cast of transgender actresses of color on a narrative TV show, with two lead producers on the project, including Janet Mock.
3 “Love, Simon”
Based on Becky Abertalli’s award-winning YA novel, Love, Simon is the first feature film by a major Hollywood studio to focus on a gay teenage romance.
4 The Assassination of Gianni Versace: The American Crime Story
The second season of the FX true crime anthology television series received the most Primetime Emmy Award nominations this year, with many people lauding Darren Criss for his role as Andrew Cunanan.
5 Vida
The Starz original series follows two Mexican-American sisters from the Eastside of Los Angeles who find out their mother was seeing a woman before she died.
6 Disobedience
This film, starring Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz, showcases a forbidden queer relationship between two women in an Orthodox Jewish congregation in London.
7The Miseducation of Cameron Post
Based on the YA novel by Emily M. Danforth, the film follows the titular character as she’s sent to a gay conversion center after being caught with the prom queen in the back seat of a car on prom night.
8 Queer Eye
Netflix’s reboot of the classic Bravo show took 2018 by storm as a seemingly overnight success. The first and second seasons of the show feature the Fab Five storming into small towns throughout Georgia to makeover some lives and touch some hearts.
9Supergirl
The CW’s Supergirl season 4 introduces Nicole Maines, who plays Nia Nal/Dreamer—television’s first transgender superhero.
10 La Casa de las Flores (The House of Flowers)
This Spanish-language television show on Netflix didn’t just feature an incredibly campy club of drag queens, but an incredibly layered plotline featuring a trans woman.
11 Super Drags
The not-suited-for-children Netflix cartoon about three gay Brazilian men who transform into superheroes stole our hearts this year. Yes, you read that correctly.