Transgender representation on scripted television has fallen to its lowest level in years, with just seven trans characters counted across major broadcast, cable and streaming platforms during the 2025–26 season. None of those characters is expected to return in the following season, according to a new report released by LGBTQ media advocacy organisation GLAAD on November 12, 2026.

The findings form part of GLAAD’s 21st annual Where We Are on TV study, which examines LGBTQ representation in scripted series distributed in the United States.

The latest figures mark a particularly steep decline for transgender characters, even as television continues to produce popular shows with LGBTQ leads.

Transgender characters fell from 33 to just seven

GLAAD identified 33 transgender characters during the 2024–25 television season. That number dropped to seven in 2025–26, representing a decline of approximately 79%.

It is the sharpest annual decrease in transgender representation recorded by the organisation, which counted a previous high of 42 characters in the 2021–22 season.

The seven characters identified in the latest study were distributed unevenly across television platforms:

• Six appeared in streaming series.
• One appeared on a traditional broadcast network.
• None appeared in the cable series covered by the study.

Of the seven characters, six were transgender women and one was a transgender man. Two held series-regular roles, while five appeared as recurring characters.

GLAAD found no transgender nonbinary characters within this category during the period examined.

These figures do not mean that transgender people have disappeared from every television programme. The study focuses on qualifying regular and recurring characters in scripted productions, rather than reality television, documentaries, single-episode appearances or every programme available internationally.

Nevertheless, the figures indicate a substantial contraction in the presence of transgender characters within the television market covered by the research.

Why none of the seven characters is expected to return

The report identifies a second problem beyond the decline in numbers: the lack of continuing roles.

Three of the seven transgender characters appeared in series that have been cancelled or concluded. The other four appeared in limited series.

Consequently, none of the seven is scheduled to return in the next television season.

This does not rule out the introduction of new transgender characters in future productions. It does mean that the series counted in this study are not expected to carry forward any of their existing transgender regular or recurring characters.

Among the productions examined, GLAAD highlights Family Law, which featured transgender character Jerri Rifkin, and Netflix’s Wayward, a limited series centred partly on a transgender police officer investigating a troubled institution in a small New England town.

The report also identifies transgender characters in Community Squad, Unspeakable Sins, Squid Game, The Dead Girls and Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

The presence of a transgender character in a production does not necessarily guarantee a continuing role, particularly when that character appears in a limited series or in a programme approaching its final season.

For television audiences, that distinction matters: a character may receive substantial attention during one season without remaining part of the longer-term television landscape.

GLAAD also raises concerns about transgender casting

The report examines more than the number of characters appearing on screen.

GLAAD criticises the casting of cisgender male actors in two roles portraying transgender women, identified in Squid Game and The Dead Girls.

For the organisation, those decisions raise questions about the authenticity of transgender representation and the opportunities available to transgender performers.

The issue is distinct from the total number of characters counted. A series can include a transgender storyline while still attracting criticism over how a character is portrayed or who has been selected to play the role.

The discussion also reflects the longer history of transgender representation in mainstream television. Laverne Cox’s breakthrough as Sophia Burset in Orange Is the New Black demonstrated how a transgender performer could bring a complex, sustained trans character to an internationally successful series.

GLAAD’s findings therefore point to two separate challenges for television producers: maintaining meaningful transgender characters in ongoing series and addressing concerns about casting and storytelling.

These considerations are especially relevant when examining the difference between a character’s temporary appearance and a sustained presence in a programme.

LGBTQ representation declined across television, not just for trans characters

The decline in transgender roles occurred during a broader contraction in LGBTQ representation.

Across the television platforms included in its research, GLAAD counted 369 LGBTQ characters in 2025–26, compared with 489 during the previous season.

That represents a reduction of 120 characters, or approximately 25%.

Streaming remained the largest source of LGBTQ characters, accounting for roughly three-quarters of those identified. Yet streaming also experienced the largest numerical decline, losing 96 characters compared with the previous study.

Cable television fell to 47 LGBTQ characters, while broadcast television counted 46.

The report describes these as the lowest representation figures for cable in 16 years and broadcast in 12 years.

The decline also affected racial and ethnic diversity. LGBTQ characters of colour accounted for 44% of the total in 2025–26, compared with approximately half in the previous report.

These trends suggest that the reduction in LGBTQ visibility cannot be explained solely by the disappearance of a small number of transgender roles.

It is part of a wider change in the scripted television programmes represented in GLAAD’s annual count.

Popular queer-led series tell a different story about audience interest

The overall decline contrasts with the success of several productions featuring prominent LGBTQ characters.

GLAAD points to series including Heated Rivalry, Pluribus and The Hunting Wives as examples of LGBTQ-centred storytelling attracting significant audience attention.

Their popularity complicates the idea that television viewers have lost interest in queer characters or storylines.

The report also draws on audience research indicating that younger viewers place particular importance on authentic LGBTQ representation.

According to research cited by GLAAD, 58% of Gen Z respondents considered increased authentic LGBTQ representation in film and television important.

The organisation argues that television companies risk overlooking an audience interested in precisely the kinds of stories that are becoming less common across their programming.

At the same time, the success of individual shows does not necessarily translate into broader representation across an entire television season.

A handful of high-profile series can dominate public conversation while the overall number of LGBTQ characters continues to decrease.

What the figures do — and do not — reveal about television

GLAAD’s findings are based on its established monitoring methodology, which counts qualifying LGBTQ characters in scripted television.

For streaming, the study covers selected major services, including Netflix, Prime Video, Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Peacock.

Characters must generally appear in a substantial portion of a season to qualify as recurring, meaning brief appearances are not automatically included.

The report also distinguishes between transgender nonbinary characters and nonbinary characters who are not identified as transgender.

Under that methodology, GLAAD separately counted 16 nonbinary characters who were not classified as transgender, up from 12 in the previous study.

This distinction helps explain why the report can record an increase in one category of nonbinary representation while finding no transgender nonbinary characters in its transgender count.

The data should therefore be read as an assessment of a defined group of scripted television productions, not as a census of every LGBTQ character appearing anywhere on screen.

A difficult starting point for the next television season

The immediate concern raised by the study is not simply that transgender characters became less numerous in 2025–26.

It is that none of the seven characters counted is expected to continue into the following season.

New productions could change that picture, but the current findings provide little continuity from the programmes included in this year’s research.

With LGBTQ characters declining across broadcast, cable and streaming, GLAAD’s report raises questions about how television companies will maintain representation beyond individual successful series.

The next edition of Where We Are on TV will provide a clearer indication of whether the latest decline represents another stage in a sustained contraction or whether new productions begin to reverse the trend.

The full findings are available in GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV 2025–2026 report.