According to a Gallup poll, the percentage of Americans who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or "Queer" (LGBTQ) reached 9.3% in 2025.
That's a highly misleading figure. The percentage of Americans born between 1997 and 2006 (Gen Z) who identify as LGBTQ stands at an astonishing 23%. The percentage of Millennials (Americans born between 1981 and 1996) who identify as LGBTQ is more than 14%.
Just 5% of Generation X, Americans born between 1965 and 1980, identify as LGBTQ.
Younger Americans radically skew the numbers for LGBTQ viewers. They are also the target audience for TV executives creating TV series and movies. The 18-35 age demo is a key demographic group often used in marketing, encompassing young adults who are in a stage of life where they possess significant spending power and the potential to become long-term customers.
This explains why, in 2024, a record number of TV and film characters were LGBTQ. Several TV series like Disney+'s Goosebumps, which featured a trans actor and LGBTQ activist, Miles McKenna, enjoyed middling success. Still, they garnered praise from the liberal media for "courage" in the portrayal of trans and gay people.
It appears that 2026 is going to be a different story. The number of LGBTQ characters on TV and in streaming series is set to be cut nearly in half as Hollywood responds to the fierce backlash from mainstream America. The outcry is especially loud against Disney and other companies that target children with LGBTQ-themed programming.
Goosebumps has been canceled, and several LGBTQ characters have either been eliminated or killed off on other shows. Hollywood, which has always and forever been a slave to the almighty dollar, is realizing that the ubiquitous presence of LGBTQ characters and story lines may not pay off in the end.
An LGBT advocacy organization, GLAAD, released its annual Where We Are On TV report, which found there were 489 LGBT characters across scripted primetime, broadcast, cable, and streaming programs during the 2024-2025 season, marking a 4 percent increase from the previous year.
However, the report said the representation was “far below the 2021-2022 record high,” and GLAAD said the number is likely to decrease in the next year due to several shows being cancelled.
The report says that 41 percent of the characters from the previous year will not be returning due to their show being cancelled or their character’s death, or their departure from the story.
Only one in four transgender characters had their contracts renewed.
The Star Wars prequel, The Acolyte, was canceled after only one season for several reasons. Die-hard Star Wars fans complained about the portrayal of the Jedi and other deviations from the mythology. But it didn't help that “lesbian space witches" conceived the main characters, twins with extraordinary powers, apparently without the benefit of a male.
Showrunner Leslye Headland insists that R2-D2 is a lesbian robot and that The Acolyte was the “gayest Star Wars” show. That's not what got the show canceled entirely, but it certainly didn't help.
In truth, The Acolyte had some interesting moments in its eight episodes, but Disney said it was far too expensive. The average cost to make one episode of The Acolyte is estimated to have been between $22.5 million and $31.77 million. Given its lukewarm reception among the Star Wars faithful and its nutty showrunner, the show was ripe for cancellation.
Goosebumps and The Acolyte weren't the only shows affected by the pullback.
In another example of studios pulling back from “woke” content, Pixar made changes to the main character of “Elio,” an animated film about an 11-year-old boy who gets beamed into space and becomes an ambassador of Earth. It was released in June 2025 after a year-long delay and drew in a measly $20.8 million.
Elio was originally supposed to be “queer coded.” However, scenes that alluded to his sexuality, such as a picture of his male crush, were removed. Also stripped out were scenes about Elio’s passion for environmentalism.
GLAAD, the LGBTQ media advocacy group, is not happy about the pullback by Hollywood. GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis said Americans are “more likely to watch a TV show if at least one of the characters is LGBTQ” and said that “LGBTQ-inclusive shows are good for business.”
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What she meant was that some LGBTQ-themed shows do quite well with specific segments of the audience. Where the networks and GLAAD get it so wrong is when they target children for "education."
Rapper and media personality Snoop Dogg said during an appearance on the “It’s Giving” podcast that he is “scared” to take his grandchildren to the movies after his grandson asked him how a female character was able to have a child with another woman in Pixar's Lightyear.
“I didn’t come in for this s**t. I just came to watch the … movie,” the rapper said on the podcast. “It f****d me up. I’m, like, scared to go to the movies now. Y’all throwing me in the middle of s**t that I don’t have an answer for … We have to show that at this age? They’re going to ask questions. I don’t have the answer.”
This is not a question of "acceptance" of LGBTQ people. This is a question of good taste and age-appropriate programming. If Hollywood has to learn this lesson by losing money, all the better.
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