Dr. Callie Torres (Sarah Ramirez) and Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) were married during "Grey's Anatomy's" seventh season in 2011. The pair also have a baby girl they share with her father, Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane).
"True Blood's" Lafayette Reynolds, played by Nelsan Ellis, works as a cook and gay prostitute on the HBO series.
On "Brothers and Sisters," which aired on ABC from 2006 to 2011, Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) proposed to Scotty Wandell (Luke Macfarlane). The pair had two children, Olivia and Daniel.
After playing bisexual Alex Kelly on "The O.C.," Olivia Wilde played Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox's "House."
"Happy Endings'" Max Blum, played by Adam Pally, is openly gay. His friends persuade him to come out to his parents during the show's first season.
"Greek's" Calvin Owens, left, played by Paul James, originally struggled to come out to his Omega Chi fraternity brothers on the show, which aired on ABC Family from 2007 to 2011.
A major storyline in "Pretty Little Liars" has been the discovery by Emily (Shay Mitchell) of her sexuality and her coming out to her family.
Gay characters Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and lesbian character Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) are some shining stars on Fox's "Glee." The teens deal with bullies, coming out and dating on the musical dramedy.
"Glee" introduced its first transgendered teen character in 2012. "Unique," shown here singing, is played by actor Alex Newell.
Critics hailed the realistic portrayal of the relationship between David Fisher (Michael C. Hall, left) and Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick) on "Six Feet Under."
Michael K. Williams played "The Wire's" Omar Little, a renowned Baltimore criminal. In March, Obama told Bill Simmons that Little is his favorite "Wire" character: "I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?"
- GLAAD released two of its annual reports on television
- None of the networks received an "excellent" rating
- Two networks were listed as "failing"
(CNN) -- It's not been an excellent year on television for LGBT characters.
On Friday GLAAD released two of its reports, the seventh annual Network Responsibility Index and the 18th annual Where We Are on TV report, and none of the networks received an excellent rating for having diverse LGBT characters and stories.
ABC, ABC Family, CW, FOX, MTV, NBC and Showtime were rated as "good"; CBS, FX, HBO, TLC, TNT and USA were "adequate"; and History and TBS received "failing" marks.
'Scandal': Dan Bucatinsky and Jeff Perry as married parents James Novak and Cyrus Beene.
'The Fosters': Teri Polo and Sherri Saum as characters Stef Foster and Lena Adams, co-moms of an eclectic blended family.
'Glee': Jeff Goldblum and Brian Stokes Mitchell as Hiram and Leroy Berry, fathers of musical prodigy Rachel, played by Lea Michele.
'Modern Family': Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet as co-dads Mitchell Pritchett and Cameron Tucker, with their niece Haley, played by Sarah Hyland.
'Under the Dome': Aisha Hinds and Samantha Mathis as Carolyn Hill and Alice Calvert, a married couple with a daughter.
'Grey's Anatomy': Jessica Capshaw and Sara Ramirez as married moms Dr. Arizona Robbins and Dr. Callie Torres.
'New Girl': Kay Cannon and June Diane Raphael as moms-to-be Melissa and Dr. Sadie with their friend Jess, played by Zoey Deschanel.
'Six Feet Under': Mathew St. Patrick and Michael C. Hall as David Fisher and Keith Charles, a couple who adopt two older children.
'The L Word': Actresses Laurel Holloman and Jennifer Beals played Tina Kennard and Bette Porter, an on-again, off-again couple who co-parent.
'Will and Grace': Eric McCormack and Bobby Cannavale as Will Truman and Vince D'Angelo. Their son Ben appeared in the series finale, marrying Grace's daughter, far in the future.
'The New Normal': Andrew Rannells and Justin Bartha as Bryan Collins and David Sawyer, a couple having a child via surrogate mother Goldie Clemmons, played by Georgia King.
Same-sex parents on TV
The ratings in the index were based on LGBT-inclusive content between June 2012 and May 2013, while Where We Are on TV relied on a character count and analysis of scripted characters in the upcoming 2013-2014 season. According to the data, the percentage of primetime broadcast scripted LGBT series regulars dropped to 3.3% from a record high of 4.4% last season. There was diversity, however. The report showed that there will be an equal number of women and men among LGBT characters during the 2013-2014 broadcast season, which means the storylines are moving beyond just featuring white gay males.
"Last season was a stellar one when it comes to the sheer number of gay, lesbian and bisexual representations on television, though diversity within those storylines showed room for improvement," said a statement from GLAAD's Wilson Cruz. "Though the number of LGBT characters dropped this season, shows like 'The Fosters,' with an interracial female couple raising a family, and characters like Unique on 'Glee' have not only moved the conversation about LGBT people forward, but are also a hit with audiences."
Some of the other findings include:
- On cable, ABC Family was the most inclusive network GLAAD tracked last year with 50% of its original programming including LGBT impressions or storylines. It was followed by FX at 40%. History received a failing grade with no LGBT images on any of its shows last season.
- ABC and FOX are the only networks to show increases this year and have the highest percentage of LGBT characters at 5.4% each. The CW is in third place at 3%. CBS is no longer last with 1.9% of its regular characters being LGBT, while NBC dropped from last year to 1%.
- Of the 46 LGBT regular and recurring characters on broadcast networks, half are women and 28% are people of color. While last year there weren't any regular transgender characters on broadcast television, there will be one this season with the character of Unique on "Glee."
- On cable, GLAAD counted 42 regular LGBT characters, up from 35 last season. An additional 24 recurring characters were counted. HBO will have the most characters with a total of 11, followed by Showtime with eight characters. Of those LGBT characters, 39% are women and 29% are people of color. Only one transgender character, Adam on "Degrassi," was counted, though he no longer appears on the program.
- Of the 796 overall regular characters on broadcast primetime, the percentage of female characters has declined somewhat to 43%. People of color will once again make up 23% of all regular characters, while just 1% will be depicted as people with disabilities.
"Our television images not only reach American audiences, but countless others around the world," Cruz said. "It is time for the television networks to make new and groundbreaking LGBT stories a priority once again."
