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July 16 (UPI) -- The top Hollywood studios featured more LGBTQ characters in movies but overall had less diversity in 2019, GLAAD said Thursday in its annual studio report card. For its eighth-annual, Studio Responsibility Index, the organization studied the films released by the eight top studios in 2019 -- Lionsgate, Paramount, Sony, STX Films, United Artists, Universal, Disney and Warner Bros. Disney absorbed 20th Century Fox in mid-2019.
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The study found 22 out of 118 films -- or 18.6 percent -- included LGBTQ characters, a record-high. The study noted, though, that many of those characters had less than 10 minutes of screen time, some so minor they did not have names.
Those included two animated films, Wonder Park and Toy Story 4, which depicted same-sex parents. Each set of parents appeared in one scene in their respective films, but there were no inclusive animated films the previous year.
Fewer LGBTQ characters were people of color than previous years. Thirty-four percent of LGBTQ characters were people of color in 2019, down from 42% in 2018 and 57% in 2017.
The study also found portrayals of gay men outnumbering lesbians and bisexuals. Inclusion of gay men increased from 55% of inclusive films in 2018 to 68% in 2019.
Lesbian representation remained at 36% of inclusive films and bisexuals remained at 14%, the same figures as 2018. Three films accounted for the 14% of bisexual characters -- Bombshell, Anna and Good Boys. Last year was the third-consecutive year in which no major studio movie featured a transgender character.
One film, Five Feet Apart, featured an LGBTQ character with a disability. This was the first year GLAAD added disabled characters to its index. Sony Pictures Classics had two films with LGBTQ characters with disabilities, but Sony's wide studio releases did not have any.
Last year, GLAAD asked studios to reach 20% LGBTQ inclusivity by 2021 and 50% by 2024. Individually, Paramount, United Artists, Lionsgate and Disney surpassed 20% in 2019.
