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.
– 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 film, TV show, and video game 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
- Check back soon for 2025 training dates
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.
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, film, and video game 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.
News and AnnouncementsUpcoming LGBTQ-inclusive shows and GLAAD events.Together In Pride: You Are Not Alone. “VIDA’s” Final Season Netflix’s “Hollywood” and “The Half Of It” Trans Actors Who Deserve EmmysFranklin Graham’s Field Hospital To CloseHTGAWM’s Lasting Legacy Exclusive Entertainment InterviewsExclusive interviews with LGBTQ Hollywood.Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O’Hara, and ShangelaChapman…
GLAAD has gathered all of our resources into a central hub to help guide, inform, train, and entertain you as we stand united together in the face of an unprecedented challenge. The world may be a different place, but our work together continues. &Together: Self Care and Resources Find the…
Individuals Stories of LGBTQ advocates accelerating acceptance. GLAAD Media Institute Alumni Resources Turned Away From Donating Plasma Meet This NYC Couple Delivering Backpacks Alex Koones: Feeding The Community Youth Advocates Highlighting the voices of the next generation. “Found Family” Love Millennials with COVID-19 AmpU Chat On LGBTQ+-inclusive YA…
&Together Headlines/News Updates GLAAD’s rapid response to current events. Calling Out Congress On People Living with HIV and COVID-19 Calling Out The FDA Medical Professionals Respond to Blood Ban Addressing Health Officials GLAAD Joins With Ally Organizations The FDA’s Blood Ban “Pilot Study” Self-Care Tips GLAAD’s steps to care…
The Where We Are on TV report analyzes the overall diversity of primetime scripted series regulars on broadcast networks and looks at the number of LGBTQ characters on cable networks and streaming services for the 2019-2020 TV season. Below are some of the most remarkable points GLAAD found in its…
Stonewall 50: A Journalist’s Guide to Reporting on the 50th Anniversary of Stonewall and the Legacy of Pride seeks to inform journalists about the history of the Stonewall Uprising and its impact on the LGBTQ movement into the modern day. The guidebook covers several topics: story ideas when covering Stonewall 50, a history of the Stonewall Inn, an overview of significant events in the modern LGBTQ movement, and a focused discussion on the issues the LGBTQ movement faces today– both in the USA and around the world.
Fifty years after the Stonewall uprising, the LGBTQ community has great reason to celebrate the many advancements that have created greater visibility and legal protections for LGBTQ Americans, but the fight for 100% acceptance is far from over.Last year the Accelerating Acceptance Index, a national survey among U.S. adults conducted…
The GLAAD Studio Responsibility Index (SRI) maps the quantity, quality and diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) characters in films released by the seven major motion picture studios during the 2018 calendar year. GLAAD researched films released by 20th Century Fox, Lionsgate, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios and Warner Bros., as well as films released by four subsidiaries of these major studios. The report is intended to serve as a road map toward increasing fair, accurate and inclusive LGBTQ representation in film.
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