Join GLAAD and take action for acceptance.

    AN INSTITUTE

    OF CHANGE

    THREE DECADES

    OF CHANGE

    GLAAD has learned a lot since its founding in 1985 about the media’s role in changing hearts and minds. GLAAD demonstrated not only media’s powerful influence—impacting how people treat others, how they vote, and their daily decisions—but our own authoritative potential to lead the conversation, reshape the narrative, and ultimately, change the culture.

    Now it’s time to share that experience more widely, giving people the tools they need to break barriers, champion acceptance, and amplify media impact in today’s culture.

    “We won’t settle for anything less than 100% acceptance.”

    – SARAH KATE ELLIS, PRESIDENT & CEO, GLAAD

    WHAT

    WE DO

    The GLAAD Media Institute enables people to build the core skills and techniques that effectuate positive cultural change. This is accomplished through three pillars:

    TRAINING

    Spokesperson and media engagement education for effective storytelling

    CONSULTING

    Serving industries, corporations, and organizations positioned to take a stand for justice

    RESEARCH

    Fielding studies, evaluating data, and developing metrics to strengthen our mission and drive action

    IMPACT

    A nationwide network of 20,000 LGBTQ and allied students, activists, and spokespeople who can move hearts and minds in national and local media markets

    Accurate, inclusive stories and messages in media outlets that increase and enhance representation of LGBTQ people

    More educated Hollywood film and TV show creators to produce compelling, entertaining LGBTQ characters that do not reinforce common stereotypes

    Improved reporting and understanding of LGBTQ people and non-discrimination policies by national and local publications and media outlets

    A database of research and resources including media guides on best practices, fair and accurate reporting, opposition materials, and responsibility indexes

    ACTIVATE

    NAVIGATE

    AND INITIATE

    SOCIAL CHANGE

    Nothing is more powerful than the personal stories that humanize our community.

    Moving hearts and minds involves so much more than just supporting social justice. It requires the skills to uncover, hone, and communicate your narrative. It demands a keen understanding of your audience and the complexities of today’s media machine. It calls for dedicated follow-up to ensure that your message goes the distance, stays on-target, and is being leveraged and amplified consistently across multiple media platforms.

    Using the best practices, tools, and techniques we’ve perfected over the past 30 years, the GLAAD Media Institute turns education into armor for today’s culture war—transforming individuals into compelling storytellers, media-savvy navigators, and mighty ambassadors whose voices break through the noise and incite real change.

    Confirmed Training

    Training Coming Up

    • April 25-27 – Atlanta, GA, Telling Your Story: registration opening soon
    • May 31 – St. Petersburg, FL, Telling Your Story: registration opening soon
    • June 1-2 – Miami, FL, Telling Your Story: registration opening soon

    Taught by GLAAD Media Institute Experts

    CONSULTING:

    WE MEAN

    BUSINESS

    Using the best practices, tools, and techniques we’ve perfected over the past 30 years, the GLAAD Media Institute turns education into armor for today’s culture war—transforming individuals into compelling storytellers, media-savvy navigators, and mighty ambassadors whose voices break through the noise and incite real change.

    WHAT

    WE DO

    Advising

    We work with businesses on how to make smart, researched decisions before launching new products, services, and marketing campaigns.

    Coaching

    We train corporate spokespeople to use best practices on message-making and narrative development.

    Behind-the-Scenes

    We work with the television and film industries to ensure casting reflects the new realities of this generation, and that LGBTQ character presence is authentic.

    Training

    We train newsrooms and journalists on appropriate current terminology, and how to report on critical issues including hate crimes, nondiscrimination laws, marriage equality, and HIV.

    RESEARCH

    You can’t move what you can’t measure.

    The more we know and understand about the state of acceptance, the more effectively GLAAD can fulfill its mission.

    GLAAD currently publishes several reports yearly. Since 2014, we’ve partnered with the Harris Poll to track nationwide sentiments and comfortability surrounding the LGBTQ community, sharing the results in the Accelerating Acceptance report. Other key resources include the Where We Are on TV report analyzing diversity across broadcast and cable networks and streaming services, and the GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index (SRI), a road map toward increasing fair, accurate, and inclusive LGBTQ representation in film.

    As the GLAAD Media Institute builds a new network of ambassadors nationwide, our ability to collect data at a granular level will improve. With an expanded, enhancedability to field custom research that best meets the needs of our clients and audience, our goal is to create a more robust, proactive research arm that can undergird and inform more impactful work across communities…and beyond.

    The State of LGTBQ Inclusion in Video Games The 2024 GLAAD Gaming Report maps the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters in video games during the 2023 calendar year. Our State of LGBTQ Inclusivity in Gaming Report, measure LGBTQ representation in these forms…

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    2023 Studio Responsibility IndexThe GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index (SRI) maps the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters in films released by ten major motion picture studios during the 2022 calendar year. GLAAD researched films released by A24, Amazon Studios, Apple TV+, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal,…

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    Introduction from Sarah Kate Ellis This is the fourth year that GLAAD, in partnership with the Gilead COMPASS Initiative®, is releasing data tracking Americans’ knowledge and attitudes around HIV and HIV stigma. We have noted continued progress in important areas including awareness that medications exist to prevent HIV and treat…

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    The inaugural Advertising Visibility Index, a first-of-its-kind report that delivers a data-backed review of LGBTQ representation in mainstream advertising, coupled with a playbook for brands to improve the quality, quantity, and diversity of LGBTQ inclusion in ads. GLAAD and Kantar, the world’s leading marketing data and analytics company, also released…

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    GLAAD’s third annual Social Media Safety Index (SMSI), a report on LGBTQ user safety found all five major social media platforms – Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Twitter – received low and failing scores on the SMSI Platform Scorecard for the second consecutive year. The SMSI found that the platforms…

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    The current story of book bans is interwoven with the story of the skyrocketing number of legislative proposals targeting LGBTQ people and especially, transgender and nonbinary youth. Like bills targeting health care, drag performance, pronouns and public spaces, book bans baselessly and disingenuously purport to be about protecting children and…

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    Join the ranks of our early Founding Partners, each of whom has made a generous leadership gift to help launch The GLAAD Media Institute. For more information about supporting the GLAAD Media Institute, contact Gwen Pointer, Executive Vice President of the GLAAD Media Institute.

    FOUNDING PARTNER

    EARLY PARTNERS

    stay tuned!