GLAAD report: Hollywood studios failing LGBT community

GLAAD has determined that Hollywood studios are failing in their portrayal of the LGBT community, a conclusion made in the advocacy group's fourth annual Studio Responsibility Index, released Monday.

The report gives four studios (Lionsgate Entertainment, 20th Century Fox, Sony Columbia Pictures, Universal Pictures) “adequate” ratings for their portrayal of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, based on their 2015 movie slates. The remaining three major studios (Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros.) were rated “failing.”

Analysis: Prospects for Hollywood diversity look bleak

Both Paramount and Disney excluded LGBT characters in their 2015 film slates, according to the report. No studios received a rating of "good" for their 2015 releases.

No A's for effort on H'wood's diversity report card

"Hollywood's films lag far behind any other form of media when it comes to portrayals of LGBT characters," GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis says in a statement. "Too often, the few LGBT characters that make it to the big screen are the target of a punchline or token characters. The film industry must embrace new and inclusive stories if it wants to remain competitive and relevant."

Movies released by specialty or independent studios and distributors, such as the lesbian love story Carol, weren't included in the assessment.

The report's main findings:

• Of the 126 releases from the major studios in 2015, 22 of them (17.5%) included characters identified as LGBT. It's the same percentage of last year. "Films must do better to include LGBT characters in roles directly tied to plot and which reflect the wide diversity of our community," the report summarized.
• Transgender representation is "shockingly low," with only one character seen in 2015's mainstream releases (Hot Pursuit, starring Sofia Vergara and Reese Witherspoon). But this brief appearance served as a "punchline to laugh at when her identity is revealed." Filmmakers and studios "should examine what message they are really sending when they rely on thoughtless humor to exploit an already-marginalized community," the reports states.
• The majority of LGBT characters GLAAD found in films from the seven biggest studios in 2015 were minor characters or cameos. Of the 22 inclusive films, almost three-quarters (73%) include fewer than 10 minutes of screen time for LGBT characters. 
• Of the 46 films released in 2015 by the four smaller affiliated studios (Focus Features, Fox Searchlight, Roadside Attractions and Sony Pictures Classics), 10 (22%) were LGBT-inclusive, an increase from the 10.6% (5 of 47) of films in 2014, and a notably higher percentage than the mainstream studios.
• Two Kevin Hart films, Get Hard and The Wedding Ringer, were cited as proof of "a noticeable resurgence of outright offensive depictions of LGBT people" for "cheap laughs." Meanwhile, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 was cited for "significant defamatory content."  These portrayals bolster "ignorance and prejudice," the report states.