And the Oscar goes to... LGBTQI+ inclusion

As Hollywood rolls out the red carpet and our biggest stars come together to celebrate 94th Academy Awards , researchers from Monash University Australia have released the findings of extensive research into LGBTQI+ inclusion in films and what it means at the box office. A team led by a Monash Business School researcher analysed 4216 contemporary Hollywood films from 2007-2014 and found that movies with LGBTQI+ representation significantly outperform those with no representation at the box office. In a paper published in the Journal of Business Ethics, the research findings reveal that LGBTQI+ inclusive movies on average gained a staggering 29 percent more box office revenue than movies with no LGBTQI+ content. With global box office revenue reaching $42 billion in 2019, this means LGBTQI+ inclusive films are not just good for social inclusion and positive social impact, they offer significant economic benefits to the global cinema industry too. In addition, movies with LGBTQI+ themes such as A Single Man, The Kids Are All Right, perform equally as well as movies with no representation in more recent years. "In analysing the films, we classified all movies into three categories, non-LGBTQI+ movies, LGBTQI+ inclusive movies and LGBTQI+ themed movies. LGBTQI+ inclusive movies are those that include LGBTQI+ characters or plots but do not make them the main focus or theme of the movie," says Yimin Cheng, Senior Lecturer from the Monash Business School.