Glaad Finds TV Trans Characters Plunged 79% to 7 as 225 Major Films Included None
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Nov 15
Glaad Finds TV Trans Characters Plunged 79% to 7 as 225 Major Films Included None
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Nov 15
Summary
Seven trans characters appeared across scripted TV from June 2025 to May 2026, Glaad said, down from 33 a year earlier and the steepest annual drop it has recorded.
Three of those seven were on canceled shows and four were in limited series, leaving no regular or recurring trans characters set to return next year; two roles were also played by cisgender men.
225 films from 10 major distributors contained zero trans characters in Glaad’s film study, extending a broader retreat after TV hit a record 42 trans characters in 2021-22.
Trace Lysette, Laverne Cox and other trans or non-binary actors described shrinking auditions, lost income and even health-insurance struggles as studios pull back.
Glaad and actors linked the decline to post-Trump anti-trans backlash and executives’ fear of controversy, even as 79% of Americans say everyone deserves media representation.