ABC Family, HBO, and MTV Are the Most Gay-Friendly Networks on Television, Says GLAAD

Thanks to such shows as The Fosters, Looking, and Faking It, ABC Family, HBO, and MTV earned high marks in GLAAD's annual report grading networks on their representations of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people on TV shows.

All three networks received a grade of "Excellent," while ABC, The CW, Fox, NBC, FX, and Showtime received "Good" ratings. CBS, TLC, and USA were rated "Adequate," and A&E, History, and TNT are "Failing," according to GLAAD.

Additionally, GLAAD found that 3.9 percent of series regulars on primetime broadcast scripted series are lesbian, gay, or bisexual (up from 3.3 percent last year). Fox has the highest percentage, with 6.5 percent of series regulars being lesbian, gay or bisexual. The CW has no regular LGBT characters on any of its shows.

Thirty-three recurring characters on broadcast primetime shows are lesbian, gay or bisexual, though none are transgender. On scripted cable series, 64 regular characters and 41 recurring characters are LGBT.

Going forward, networks will need to increase their representation of transgender characters in order to receive an Excellent rating from GLAAD, the organization said.

"Television networks are playing a key role in promoting cultural understanding of LGBT lives around the world, and are now producing some of the best LGBT-inclusive programming we've yet seen," said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. "As they move forward with new programs and storylines, networks must also keep an eye towards diversity and strive to include significant transgender content comparable to those efforts being made by their online competitors, such as Netflix's Orange is the New Black and Amazon's Transparent."

You can read the full GLAAD report here.