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GLAAD report says ‘True Blood’ is the most gay-friendly show on TV

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A new report has confirmed what many ‘Truebies’ have suspected: HBO’s vampire smash ‘True Blood’ is the most gay-friendly show on television.

‘Thanks to its large cast (and often sexually ambiguous vampires), HBO’s ‘True Blood’ is the most inclusive program currently on television, featuring six regular and recurring LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) characters,’ according to the 15th annual ‘Where We Are on TV’ report from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

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The report says that LGBT characters will account for 3.9% of all 587 characters in 84 scripted series in the fall network TV season, up from 3% last year. For the fifth straight year, ABC has the highest percentage of LGBT characters among the broadcast networks, with 7.2%. CBS was said to show the most improvement among the broadcasters, thanks in part to Kalinda Sharma (Archie Panjabi), the investigator on ‘The Good Wife,’ being revealed as bisexual.

The report also cited prominent gay characters from hit shows that premiered last season, including Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), the gay high schooler on ‘Glee,’ and Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), the gay couple on ‘Modern Family.’

“The increase in lesbian, gay, and bisexual characters on prime-time television not only reflects the shift in American culture towards greater awareness and understanding of our community, but also a new industry standard that a growing number of creators and networks are adopting,” GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios said in a statement. “The recent critical and commercial success of shows like ‘Modern Family’ and ‘Glee’ clearly indicate that mainstream audiences embrace gay characters and want to see well-crafted stories about our lives.”

Interestingly, the prominence of gay characters and storylines on ‘True Blood’ -- where lesbian vampire Pam (Kristin Bauer) was recently promoted to a series regular -- has led to a lively debate among fans. Zap2it.com asked readers earlier this year whether it was possible for anti-gay viewers to be a fan of the show.

You can read the entire GLAAD report here.

-- Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)

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