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CBS plans more gay characters since receiving ‘failing’ score from GLAAD

CBS plans more gay characters since receiving ‘failing’ score from GLAAD

CBS has announced plans to add more gay characters to its fall line-up after receiving a “failing” grade in the annual Network Network Responsibility Index, a media survey by GLAAD that monitors the portrayal of gay, lesbian and transgender people on television.

In the season that starts in September, the network said a gay character will join “The Good Wife,” a lesbian character will join “Rules of Engagement” and a gay character will appear in the new sitcom “$#*! My Dad Says.”

Speaking last week to television reporters, Nina Tassler, CBS entertainment president, said the network was adding the characters to its prime-time programs “because we’re very disappointed in our track record so far.”

Tassler announced the addition of the three characters, saying that when it became clear that none of CBS’s new shows included gay or lesbian characters, the network looked for other opportunities to “improve the numbers we have represented in the casts.”

The network received a “Failing” rating from GLAAD, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, with only 7% LGBT-inclusive hours of prime time programming, the vast majority of which came from its reality series.

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