Transgender characters on television are no longer victims and villains but they are still often defamed, according to a report released Tuesday (18 November) by GLAAD.

The third annual report, titled Trans Images on TV, found there were no episodes in which trans characters were portrayed in the villain role and only one episode with a trans character as a victim.

This is compared to 19% and 35% in GLAAD’s combined previous two reports.

While 46% of the episodes reviewed were considered defamatory, it was an 8% drop from the combined past two reports.

Also encouraging was that only one character this year – Venus Van Dam on FX’s Sons of Anarchy –was portrayed as a sex worker which was the most common profession in past years.

Episodes singled out for being outstanding both involved transgender men: Drop Dead Diva’s ‘Identity Crisis’ and Orphan Black’s ‘Variable and Full of Perturbation.’

Also lauded was an episode of CBS’ Elementary featuring a trans housekeeper named Mrs. Hudson portrayed by trans actress Candis Cayne.

The report described Ms. Hudson as ‘a multi-dimensional character whose identity and storyline don’t hinge on her gender identity. She is precisely the type of transgender character we need to see more of on television.’

On the down side, anti-transgender slurs and dialogue were heard with 39% of the episodes that contained problematic language including on Two and a Half Men and Family Guy.

GLAAD found that this language was often used by sympathetic characters and was not challenged by anyone else in the episode.

Series noted for positive trans characters were Transparent which stars Jeffrey Tambor (pictured) as a father of three who comes out as trans at the age of 70 and Netflix’s Orange is the New Black which featured Emmy-nominated Laverne Cox as a trans inmate.