‘Epidemic of invisibility’ for LGBT people in Hollywood
A new report has condemned Hollywood film and television studios for not giving enough screen time to the LGBT community and other minorities.
Just days before the Oscars, the study produced by the Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative at the University of Southern California found that across ten major outlets, everyone of them failed to be diverse.
“We don’t have a diversity problem. We have an inclusion crisis,” said Professor Stacy L. Smith – one of the reports authors.
The study examined 109 films and 305 first run TV shows between 2014 and 2015 and found that after analysing more than 11,000 speaking roles, less than two percent identified as LGBT.
Of this, only seven were transgender and four of them from the same TV show.
The report also condemned the fact that women and ethnic minorities are underrepresented and accused Hollywood of “whitewashing”.
“When we start to step back to see this larger ecology, I think we see a picture of exclusion,” added Professor Smith.
“And it doesn’t match the norms of the population of the United States.”
The report continued by comparing streaming services with conventional mediums and found that on the whole most still lacked inclusivity, but in some areas they were better.
Following the report, six of Hollywood’s major studios: Disney, Sony, Paramount, Fox, Universal and Warner Bros, had yet to comment on its findings.
The report comes just days before an Oscars ceremony that has been marred in controversy for not nominating any ethnic minority actors or directors for the second year in a row.
Last month, Will Smith confirmed that he and his wife would boycott the event because of its lack of inclusivity.
