This year marks the 51st anniversary of the celebration of PRIDE month in the U.S. There’s a lot for the LGBTQ community to celebrate in 2021, just one year after PRIDE parades and celebrations were cancelled in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. The strength and size of the community is more visible than ever. For the first time in 2019, the U.S. Census Bureau’s America’s Families and Living Arrangements included estimates of same-sex households, showing 543,000 same-sex married households, and a Gallup study recently noted that LGBT identification has risen to 5.6%.
随着女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和变性者（LGBTQ）群体的不断壮大，毫无疑问，数字连接也许是促进女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和变性者群体发展的最具影响力的因素。它减少了孤独感，为自我表达创造了安全的空间，为连接不同的群体提供了机会，并为获取教育资源和精心策划的内容提供了便利。技术还为该群体提供了一个真实展示的场所。从电视和流媒体服务到播客和音乐服务，女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋和变性者内容和人才的开发和获取成倍增加。
数字连接培育了一个精通技术、热衷于数字参与的社区。因此，视频流媒体已成为一个重要的内容消费载体，其定制内容生机勃勃。虽然流媒体是所有美国人日常生活的一部分，但 85% 的 LBGTQ 表示在过去 30 天内使用过视频流媒体服务，而普通人群的这一比例为 74%。在这些服务中，YouTube 是 LGBTQ 受众的主要流媒体服务，其使用率比普通受众高出 34%。
For LGBTQ people, sexual orientation discrimination and religious persecution is still a concern in many parts of the world. Social media channels have empowered the community to organize and connect online, leading to heavy social media use when compared to the total population. Flexing their social muscle within online communities, more than 40% spend 3 or more hours per day on social media and are 44% more likely to have spent 5+ hours a day on social media. The Queer community is further driving culture as content creators. This community is 30% more likely to have used Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter in the last month than the general population. Given the reach and power of these platforms, the industry as well as advocacy organizations have acted to ensure that social media platforms are safe spaces for inclusive content and dialogue. Earlier this year, GLAAD launched the Social Media Safety Index, encouraging the industry to fight the anti-LGBTQ hate speech and misinformation so prevalent in the social media landscape.
As the community expands its footprint in social content development, curated theatrical and episodic content is the next frontier in the march for equality. Representation in movies, television shows, and ads can help fight bias where too often stories are centered around violence toward the LGBTQ community or a stereotypical portrayal. The fact is, LGBTQ storylines and characters have grown in on-screen presence over the years, but only recently have we seen an increase in representation of this identity group at the talent level. Gracenote 融合分析 data showed that 26% of the top 300 programs in 2019 had representation of individual cast members who self-identify as LGBTQ. That number has increased to 29% in 2020—a small shift in the right direction. Equally important are the platforms where visibility occurs. LGBTQ stories and talent are becoming more easy to find across the television landscape.
按平台划分，2020 年 Gracenote Inclusion Analytics 的数据显示，广播电视和订阅视频点播（SVOD）中的同性恋人才最多（7%），其次是有线电视（6%）。SVOD 拥有最多的同性恋人才，为观众提供了有意义的、能引起共鸣的内容，使同性恋观众更容易找到相关节目。代表人数的增加表明，LGBTQ 人才有了更多的机会，行业和观众也更加开放地接受多样化的故事。
Early this year, when the House of Representatives passed the amendment to the Equality Act, it would not only expand discrimination protections, but also support public dialogue about LGBTQ people’s lived experiences and how they are reflected and included in content. From the inclusion of authentic storylines in mainstream romance genres, to increasing transgender and nonbinary visibility, civil rights dialogue has opened the door for narratives—shaping not only what stories are told but how they end, and whether or not that includes marriage or family.
Defining gender and sexual identities and fighting the erasure of those identities, LGBTQ people and allies have worked to accelerate acceptance. This PRIDE month is a reminder to support and celebrate a community who is proud 和 present.
Additional Resources
Learn more about LGBTQ audiences and families, as well as their viewing behaviors.
