PLAYING IT STRAIGHT

New Study Reveals Gay Actors Are Discriminated Against In Hollywood

straight-gay-actorsPortrayals of LGBT characters and the number of openly gay actors is at an all-time high, but a new study by the Screen Actors Guild, in conjunction with the Williams Institute, finds that homophobia still runs pretty rampant in Hollywood.

The study, Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Diversity in Entertainment, was conducted on nearly 5,692 members of SAG-AFTRA, 85% of whom identified as straight. Key findings include:

*A third of respondents felt that the entertainment industry was biased against LGBT performers; 34% of non-LGBT performers v. 53% of LGBT performers shared that view

*Over half of the LGB respondents had heard a director or fellow actor make anti-gay comments

*16% of LGBT respondents reported that they had experienced discrimination. Gay men were the most likely to report they have experienced some form of discrimination, with one in five reporting an experience. Bisexual actors were about half as likely to report discrimination as gay or lesbian actors.

*Gender nonconforming gay and bisexual men were more likely to experience discrimination, as were men who were out professionally

* 9% of lesbian or gay respondents said they had been turned down for a job because of their sexual orientation

* Despite getting similar types of roles to their heterosexual counterparts, LGB performers earned less on a daily average

*45% of lesbian or gay respondents “strongly believed” that producers and studio executives think LG performers are less marketable; 15% of heterosexual respondents felt the same.

*25% of LGB performers reported playing a gay character had an impact on their later work

*29% of heterosexual performers had never portrayed a lesbian or gay character; 58% of LGB and 33& of bisexual actors have

*14% of LG performers and 8% of bisexual performers have played a transgender role; only 3% of non-LGBT actors have played a transgender role.

*72% of openly lesbian or gay actors said being out had no effect on their careers

“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 Chief Administrative 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.”

For the full study, click here.

h/t: The Guardian

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