Media Matters looked at coverage of LGBTQ issues on PBS' News Hour, CBS' Evening News, NBC's Nightly News, and ABC's World News Tonight. We found that: 

• Driven by PBS, broadcast networks aired 3 hours and 50 minutes of coverage of LGBTQ issues in 2025. 
  • PBS aired nearly 82% of this coverage, accounting for 3 hours and 8 minutes across 67 segments. 
  • CBS aired 28 minutes across 18 segments.
  • NBC aired 10 minutes across 13 segments.
  • ABC aired just 4 minutes across 3 segments.
• Trans and gender-nonconforming people were rarely featured in coverage of LGBTQ issues.
  • Broadcast coverage of LGBTQ issues included 25 guest segments. 24 of those segments aired on PBS. 1 aired on CBS.
  • Those segments featured 28 unique guests. 5 of those guests publicly identified as trans or gender-nonconforming — and all 5 of them appeared on PBS. No guests spoke in their capacity as the parent of a trans or gender-nonconforming person.
  • 8 additional segments cited trans or gender-nonconforming people or their parents in prerecorded clips or quotes: 6 on PBS, 1 on CBS, and 1 on NBC.
  • In total, PBS aired 10 segments featuring the voices of trans or gender-nonconforming people or their parents, in a mix of guest segments and prerecorded clips.
• Segments frequently included mentions of anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy and trans identity. 
  • 52% of segments mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy, including legislation that impacted trans and gender-nonconforming people. 
  • 63% of segments included mentions of terms related to trans or gender-nonconforming identity, such as transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer.

Of the 3 hours and 50 minutes of total broadcast news coverage dedicated to LGBTQ issues from January 1 through December 31, 2025, 3 hours and 8 minutes aired on PBS. The network aired 67 of the 101 segments about LGBTQ issues last year, reflecting a divide between corporate and nonprofit outlets amid ongoing challenges to broadcast media.

CBS aired 28 minutes across 18 segments, NBC aired 10 minutes across 13 segments, and ABC aired 4 minutes across 3 segments.

Terms related to transgender or gender-nonconforming identities — including but not limited to transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer — were mentioned in 63% of segments about LGBTQ issues. This coverage reflected the extent to which policymakers tried to restrict the rights of trans Americans over the course of 2025.

Yet trans and gender-nonconforming people — or parents speaking on their behalf — were rarely featured in coverage of LGBTQ issues, contributing to just 4 guest segments and featuring in 8 other segments through prerecorded clips. Given such lacking coverage, many broadcast viewers likely failed to see trans or gender-nonconforming people meaningfully contribute to discussions of LGBTQ issues in 2025.

Along with airing the fewest segments about LGBTQ issues of all networks, ABC also failed to feature a trans or gender-nonconforming person or a parent in its coverage, in either a guest segment or a prerecorded clip.

Neither NBC nor CBS aired a guest segment with a trans or gender-nonconforming person or a parent in its coverage of LGBTQ issues, but NBC featured clips from a prerecorded interview with a trans person and his parent in 1 segment, and CBS aired 1 segment including clips from prerecorded interviews with 2 trans service members.

PBS featured trans or gender-nonconforming people or their parents in prerecorded clips airing across 6 segments. In 3 of these segments, PBS repeatedly returned to one family with a trans child to report on the impact of anti-trans legislation. 

Across broadcast coverage of LGBTQ issues, there were 25 guest segments, 24 of which aired on PBS and 1 of which aired on CBS. 5 trans or gender-nonconforming people appeared as guests in 4 of these guest segments, all of which aired on PBS. No guests spoke in their capacity as the parent of a trans or gender-nonconforming person on any network. Of the other guests who appeared on PBS, 2 were stated advocates of LGBTQ rights while 3 had opposed LGBTQ rights.

Over half of the segments about LGBTQ issues mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy (53 of 101). Segments that mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy likewise accounted for a significant amount of coverage aired on each network. 

• 37 of the 67 LGTBQ segments on PBS mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy. 
• 9 of the 13 LGBTQ segments on NBC mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy. 
• 5 of the 18 LGBTQ segments on CBS mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy. 
• 2 of the 3 LGBTQ segments on ABC mentioned anti-LGBTQ legislation or policy. 

Anti-LGBTQ legislation and policy targeted a wide range of issues in 2025, restricting LGBTQ people at the local and federal level. The American Civil Liberties Union tracked 616 anti-LGBTQ bills moving in state legislatures, many of which targeted LGBTQ students or educators and LGBTQ health care. Education and health care restrictions also featured in the anti-LGBTQ executive orders signed by Trump at the start of his second term, which also included orders targeting trans athletes, trans service members, and the legal definition of trans identity. 

Coverage of LGBTQ issues reflected these additional topics:

• 28 LGBTQ segments mentioned LGBTQ education.  
• 22 LGBTQ segments mentioned gender-affirming care.
• 20 LGBTQ segments mentioned trans athletes. 
• 17 LGBTQ segments mentioned LGBTQ service members. 
• 10 LGBTQ segments mentioned marriage equality.  

Perhaps surprisingly, some LGBTQ issues that had previously garnered legislative attention were mentioned the least on broadcast networks in 2025. Just 5 segments mentioned LGBTQ-inclusive or exclusive gender-specific spaces, such as bathrooms or locker rooms, and only 2 segments mentioned drag performance or performers. 

So far this year, the ACLU is tracking over 500 anti-LGBTQ bills at the state level. Meanwhile, some legislation passed during previous sessions continues to face legal challenges and appeals, including at the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in January in a case that will decide the legitimacy of West Virginia's and Idaho's bans on transgender athletes. At the end of March, the Court struck down Colorado's ban on conversion therapy.  

As new policies emerge and older legislation is challenged, LGBTQ people  experience the extreme uncertainty of shifting laws and heightened restrictions. PBS should continue to dedicate meaningful coverage to the impact of these anti-LGBTQ policies, as well as to the aspects of LGBTQ life that thrive despite legislative pressures. Even more urgently, however, other broadcast networks should acknowledge the importance of covering LGBTQ stories and meet the bar set by PBS in 2025.    

Charts by Molly Butler. 

Media Matters searched transcripts in the SnapStream and Kinetiq video databases and the Nexis database for all original episodes of ABC's World News Tonight, CBS' Evening News, NBC's Nightly News, and PBS' News Hour, excluding any weekend editions, for any of the terms  “LGBTQ,” “LGBTQIA,” “LGBT,” “lesbian,” “gay,” “bi,” “trans,” “transgender,” “queer,” “nonbinary,” “non binary,” “gender,” “two spirit,” “pronoun,” “they them,” “gender affirming,” or “same sex” or any variations of any of the terms “bisexual,” “pansexual,” “asexual,” “homosexual,” “biological man," “biological woman,” “biological boy,” or “biological girl” from January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025.

We timed segments, which we defined as instances when LGBTQ issues were the stated topic of discussion or when we found significant discussion of LGBTQ issues. We defined LGBTQ issues as any topic concerning LGBTQ sexual orientations, gender identities, or community members. We defined significant discussion as instances when two or more speakers in a segment discussed LGBTQ issues with one another.

We did not include mentions, which we defined as instances when a single speaker in a segment on another topic mentioned LGBTQ issues without another speaker engaging with the comment, or teasers, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host promoted a segment about LGBTQ issues scheduled to air later in the broadcast.

We also included guest appearances, which we defined as instances when the anchor or host invited a person as a guest on screen in studio, via satellite, or over the phone as part of an interview or a panel to answer questions or to provide commentary, and that person had an opportunity to interact with the anchor, host, or a correspondent fulfilling the duties of the anchor or host. We included prerecorded appearances only for their first, original airings. We did not count clips or short snippets of interviews or panels as appearances.

We then reviewed the identified segments and determined whether the segment mentioned any of the following: proposed or enacted local, state, or federal policy or legislative action that primarily or explicitly targets LGBTQ people or rights; a case related to any LGBTQ issue considered by lower courts or by the Supreme Court; marriage equality; gender-affirming care, including social transition, hormone blockers, hormone replacement therapy, or surgery; LGBTQ-inclusive or exclusive gender-specific spaces, such as bathrooms or locker rooms; trans athletes or competitors; LGBTQ service members; education, including LGBTQ inclusive or exclusive curricula, LGBTQ educational policy, LGBTQ educators, LGBTQ-inclusive or exclusive educators, or LGBTQ students; or drag performance or performers. We also reviewed all segments for variations of the terms LGBTQ, transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual or pansexual, intersex, asexual, or drag, and for whether the segment cited a trans or gender-nonconforming person or parent of a transgender or gender-nonconforming person in a clip or quote. 

Finally, we reviewed all guest segments for whether they featured a trans or gender-nonconforming guest, a guest from an LGBTQ advocacy organization, a guest speaking in their capacity as a friend or relation of a specific LGBTQ person, or a guest who is hostile to LGBTQ people or rights. 

We rounded all reported times to the nearest minute.