Report: More Gays and Lesbians on TV

And they weren’t even counting Bert and Ernie. The LGBT advocacy group GLAAD has found that there are more gay and lesbian characters on television than ever before. In an assessment of the 97 scripted shows slated for this season, it found 31 regularly appearing gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender characters who will be gracing the networks, up significantly from 19 last season. The networks might not want to be content with their diversity numbers now, though: 55 percent of the LGBT characters are male, and 78 percent are white.