Noah’s Sexuality

So… I just got to the episode where Noah came out as bi. I am someone that knew from a very early age I’m not straight, so I’m not knocking the fact that he’s 8-9 and already labeling himself. However, the whole scene was very cringe because it felt like an after school special that was randomly tacked onto an already crowded episode. I wish they had taken longer to explore this and given him better dialogue. I just can’t imagine an 8 year old using the vocabulary he uses.

I’m a school counselor, and have worked with all age groups. The queer elementary students I’ve worked with don’t come right out and throw the PC terms at you. They usually manifest in other ways. For example, they’ll usually ask why men can’t marry men. Or say they have crushes on a movie character that’s the same gender as them. Or when participating in role playing games like “house”, they’ll say something like “why don’t we both be the dads?”

Idk, the way they made him come out felt inauthentic, and as someone that loves seeing the inclusion of queerness in mainstream media, especially when acknowledging sexuality and gender in youths, I think the show has a responsibility to portray it properly. This just felt like a gag.