After determining which films are LGBTQ-inclusive, the organization further analyzes them using its “Vito Russo Test,” named after GLAAD co-founder and film historian Vito Russo. GLAAD encourages studios to move beyond stereotypes and tropes by providing them with specific information about the films its features in its report. NBC OUT 40 percent of LGBTQ youth 'seriously considered' suicide in past year, survey finds "For example, in 'Wonder Park,' we see gay parents dropping their kids off to camp, which is a nice moment, but there's also a huge amount of opportunity to move beyond small moments that audiences can easily miss."
"There's a lot of cases where an LGBTQ characters are present, but they were only there for a smaller moment or they weren't as critical to the plot," Townsend said. Though white gay men remain the most represented in LGBTQ-inclusive films, even their inclusion may not be taken for granted as progress, as more than half of all LGBTQ characters received less than three minutes of screen time, according to the report. "When there is only one gay character in a project - whose story culminates as a plot device for a straight romance - it does not send a positive message to audiences for that character to then also die." "It is unfortunate that this film introduced a vibrant character, who was gay, Latino and living with a disability, only to have him eventually die to further the plot of the central straight white characters," the report says. The report is the first time GLAAD ha tallied LGBTQ characters with disabilities, finding that there was only one character who fit the bill: Poe from "Five Feet Apart." Poe, however, dies before the movie's end, a plot point that the report says exemplifies "Hollywood's decades long ' Bury Your Gays' trope."
Just 34 percent of LGBTQ characters were people of color in 2019, compared with 42 percent the year before, prompting GLAAD to challenge studios to ensure at least half of their LGBTQ characters are people of color by 2022. Yet progress remains sluggish as no bisexual male characters were featured in any of the year's releases, and for the third year in a row transgender characters were absent on screen, an omission the report calls "the most glaring way that mainstream media fails to be inclusive." The racial diversity of LGBTQ film characters is also dismal, with GLAAD recording a "concerning continuation of a downward trend" as the number of queer characters of color decreased for the third consecutive year. "We've called out the use of transactional relationships when it comes to bi characters who engage in a relationship to get something they need, rather than genuine romantic or sexual interest so many times before, so it's refreshing to see these films steer clear of playing into that stereotype," Townsend said. Gains were not simply made in the number of LGBTQ-inclusive films, but in the storylines as studios eviscerated commonly used plot and character tropes, particularly when it came to bisexual characters, as in "Bombshell" and "Anna." NBC OUT Hallmark says it is in negotiations to include LGBTQ storylines in holiday movies