LGBT representation on US screens has improved massively in the last decade or so (with some room for improvement), and while that should be applauded, a new report says that offscreen discrimination is still a problem.
UCLA’s The Williams Institute and SAG-AFTRA (the actor’s union) has issued a report on the problem, using information from a survey of 5,700 members. It says that one-third of survey respondents believed that casting directors, directors, and producers may be biased against LGBT performers. When only LGBT actors were asked the same question, over half said there was bias.
On the positive side, only 16 percent of gay, bisexual and transgender respondents said they had experienced direct discrimination. Overall actors themselves were overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT issues and people, proving a positive, supportive environment, and many gay people would encourage others to come out.
“We were pleased to see that our membership is overwhelmingly supportive of LGBT actors, and that many LGBT actors found benefits in coming out,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s Cheif Administration Officer and General Counsel. “Nonetheless, coming out remains a significant and consequential decision for many performers and we are committed to supporting our members in living honest and authentic personal and professional lives.”
There’s a slightly more mixed picture for gay actors who have played gay characters in the last few years, with two-thirds feeling that it had not harmed their careers or limited the roles they were offered, meaning the one-third felt it did. Nine percent of the gay men and lesbians also said they had been turned down for roles during the past five years because of their sexual orientations.
This is one of the biggest remaining problems – whether LGBT actors are being pushed to one side by execs and casting directors, who in a toss up between two actors will go for the straight one just because it seems like an easier sell (but of course no one ever publicly says that’s why). It’s something that’s difficult to prove but anecdotally does seem to be an issue. This is born out in the survey, with respondents quoted as saying things like, “A director told me to recast a role after he found out the lead was a gay male”, and “I’ve seen many gay actors read for straight roles and when they left the room, the casting director indicated they would not be taken seriously in the straight role because they were gay.”
It’s certainly a mixed picture, but nearly all respondents said things were improving and almost nobody thought things would get worse in the future.
You can read the full results here.
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