By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Television has increased its depiction of gay, lesbian and bisexual characters, with the edge going to cable and the Internet over broadcast networks, according to a study released Wednesday by the advocacy group GLAAD.
Networks are promoting the understanding of gay lives with some of the most inclusive programs yet, but should "strive to include significant transgender content," said GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis in a statement.
Transgender characters are featured on cable and Internet fare such as the online series "Orange Is the New Black" from Netflix and "Transparent" from Amazon.
In this year's Emmy Award nominations, "Orange Is the New Black" co-star Laverne Cox became the first openly transgender actress to receive a nod.
The overall on-screen progress comes as the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community has made social and political strides that include legalization of same-sex marriage in some U.S. states and the end of a military ban on openly gay service members.
In the 2014-15 season, GLAAD's study found that 3.9 percent of 813 characters regularly seen on prime-time network scripted series will be lesbian, gay or bisexual, a total of 32 characters.
That represents an increase over last year's 3.3 percent, but is down from the 4.4 percent record high for LGBT depictions on network series in 2012.
Among the networks, Fox again emerged with the highest percentage of lesbian, gay or bisexual regular characters, 6.5 percent, with "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and "Glee" among the programs contributing to the tally. ABC, which had tied with Fox for first last year at 5.4 percent, dropped to 4.5 percent.
NBC is at 3.8 percent, up a point from last year, while CBS' shows had 3.2 percent gay, lesbian or bisexual characters, up 1.9 percent from last season. The CW has no regular LGBT characters, the gay rights group said.
Among cable TV shows, there were 64 regular LGBT characters, up from 42 last season. HBO has the most characters, followed by ABC Family and Showtime. One transgender character, on ABC Family's "The Fosters," was found by the study.
GLAAD also studied other aspects of diversity on network TV.
Despite several new high-profile broadcast series starring women, including Alfre Woodward as the U.S. president in NBC's "State of Affairs" and Tea Leoni as secretary of state in CBS' "Madam Secretary," the percentage of female characters has declined to 40 percent, down 3 points from last year.
Ethnic characters on network shows make up 27 percent of the total, compared with 23 percent last season, with 1.4 percent depicted as people with disabilities, a slight increase from 1 percent in 2013.
“Shōgun” Dominates The Creative Arts Emmy Awards With 14 Wins
Top nominee “Shōgun” won a staggering 14 awards in a near-sweep Sunday night at the Creative Arts Emmys, while “The Bear” won seven including guest actress in a comedy series for Jamie Lee Curtis.
Presenters were saying “Shōgun” all night at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on the second night of the two-night Creative Arts Emmys, where awards are handed out that don’t quite make the main Primetime Emmys ceremony. That will be held Sept. 15 and air on ABC with hosts Dan and Eugene Levy.
“Shōgun,” the FX series about political machinations in feudal Japan, won 14 of the 16 trophies it could have claimed on Sunday night, including Emmys for costumes, makeup, editing, stunts and cinematography, along with a best guest actor in a drama Emmy for Néstor Carbonell.
As he accepted, Carbonell thanked the crew, then marveled at how many of them were in the audience.
“You’re all here! You’re all nominated!” Carbonell said. “I love the team sport of this.”
The wins mean that “Shōgun” is already guaranteed to have the highest total after the main ceremony on Sept. 15, though its biggest nominations are yet to come, including best drama and best actor in a drama for star Hiroyuki Sanada.
Curtis was emotional on stage after winning her first Emmy 18 months after winning her first Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” Curtis said backstage. “I just never thought I would get to do work at this level of depth and complexity and intelligence. It’s been the thrill of my creative life these last couple of years.”
Asked if she could win a Grammy and a Tony to make it an EGOT, she said no way.
“I can’t sing at all,”... Read More