GLAAD Survey Confirms True Blood Gayest Television Series

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation released its 15 annual “Where We Are On TV” study, an exhaustive examination of scripted LGBT primetime characters in the 2010/2011 television season on network and cable, HBO’s True Blood found to be the most inclusive program, the Alan Ball created series featuring six regular and recurring LGBT characters. The report reveals that LGBT characters account for 3.9-percent of all 587 characters in 84 scripted series in the 2010 fall network television season, an increase from the 3-percent recorded last year, GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said “The increase in lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters on primetime television not only reflects the shift in American culture towards greater awareness and understanding of our community, but also a new industry standard that a growing number of creators and networks are adopting. The recent critical and commercial success of shows like Modern Family and Glee clearly indicate that mainstream audiences embrace gay characters and want to see well-crafted stories about our lives.” For the fifth consecutive year, ABC continued to lead other broadcast networks in LGBT representation, offering 11 LGBT characters our of 152 series regular characters. ABC Family also performed well, with seven series regular LGBT characters. CBS remained last with only one LGBT character out of 125 series regulars.