The latest report looked at the television series that premiered from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026.
It revealed that zero transgender characters will return to TV next year, and that representation of LGBTQ characters of colour is at an eight-year low.
369 LGBTQ+ characters in total were counted on scripted primetime broadcast, cable and streaming original series. That is a decrease of 120 characters (25%) from the 489 counted the previous season.
161 of the 369 (44$) are characters of colour. An eight-year low and a decrease from 51% of characters of colour the previous year. None of the 369 characters lived with HIV.
2% of the 369 were trans characters; that’s a total of 7, six women and one man.
The previous year, the count was 33. Of these seven characters, none are returning to TV next year.
While I also hate it when studios engage in pinkwashing for the sake of pinkwashing, that’s not the reason why queer characters are decreasing in visibility.
There are quite a few shows from the late 2010’s - early 2020’s that had multi-dimensional representation that resonated with my experience as a visibly queer lesbian. Those shows have all been tanked, and very few shows have been created since that offer similar representation.