A Nielsen report breaks down LGBTQ visibility. While representation has increased, there is more work to be done, the LGBTQ community responds.
What We Know:
- The LGBTQ community makes up 4.5% of the U.S. population, says NBC News. LGBTQ characters made of “6.7 percent of the top 10 recurring cast members in the top 300 programs on broadcast, cable and streaming platforms in 2019”. Additionally, 26% of the programs had a cast member who identifies as LGBTQ.
- While the numbers show that there is increased visibility, presence is different than representation. Stacie de Armas, Nielsen’s senior vice president for diverse consumer insights, commented on the report. “when we look deeper, and at intersectional groups, it’s clear there is a need for greater diversity in LGBTQ representation. White LGBTQ people are most represented on screen, while female LGBTQ people of color and Latinx LGBTQ people are below parity compared to their population estimates.”
- Harvey Guillén, an openly gay actor on FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, commented, “It’s great that there are more queer actors in queer roles in living rooms consistently, but getting more people of color, of different gender expressions and different body types across different genres is our next priority.” He added talking about the importance of representation. Media tends to be where people build their ideas of LGBTQ communities and where LGBTQ people form identities.
- Jack Moore of Netflix’s Dear White People explained the importance of having diverse writers. “A huge part of the puzzle the industry has to work on is allowing queer women, queer Latinx people, and other underrepresented members of our community to tell their own stories.” Adding that a diverse writers room not only allows more stories to be shared but can also avoid repetitive stories and characters.
- Vida and One Day at a Time are programs featuring queer Latinx women but are not meant with great support. Chris Rudolph, editor and producer for Logo, ViacomCBS’ LGBTQ lifestyle channel and entertainment channel comments on the role the queer community has to increase representation. “If we want to see shows other than the ones that focus on gay, white men, we as a community have to show them the same amount of love and support.”
- Beyond LGBTQ representation, the Neilsen report also found women are 38% of the top ten recurring cast members despite being 52% of the population. Additionally, people of color makeup 40% of the population but are only represented 27% on the screen.
The Neilsen report shares its findings in hopes of helping others understand the importance of diversity and inclusion.
