Hmm, but I feel like by only using the word gay, they’ve already provided a sort of box themselves? I know introductory stories try to keep it simple, but I think if boys are involved in the story somehow, as they were here, then at the least, bisexuality should be mentioned, if just its existence.
Nobody has to choose an identity, but even that’s worth having the discussion, an “I don’t know” or “I don’t want to pick”.
Too often if a character isn’t straight, they’re assumed to be gay and when the show reinforces that then that’s what the audience takes away from it. Someone can absolutely still have a history with boys and be a lesbian, but even then, not being bi is still different from defaulting to gay.
I like that at the end Val herself said she didn’t want to pick a label, she made her own choice, but it is a choice in itself, as much as any other label. I also don’t think a totally label-less society is some kind of ideal to strive for, I don’t think it means that it all stops mattering and everyone is equal. Bigoted people don’t hate the label, they hate what people are, and that’s still going to continue.