Okay, I guess we're having this conversation again. "Why does character X need to announce their sexuality! It has nothing to do with the book?"

Multiple reasons, John.

First reason: if you don't state "my name is Paula and I am a LESBIAN," people will assume Paula is straight. Yes, even if she flirts with girls throughout the book. Then they will get angry at the author when she hooks up with a lady in book two.

So all you've done by not going "YO! WHERE MY FELLOW LESBIANS AT?" is deprive lesbian readers of representation and make a bunch of straight people assume you're STEALING representation from them when she's revealed to be into ladies.

Second reason: no matter what flavor of queer (or LGBT+ if someone doesn't like the queer umbrella) a person is, they are DYING for representation. D-Y-I-N-G. I could turn literally ALL THE X-MEN gay and not even shift the percentages for queer rep v. straight rep.

So if Paula says "I don't like labels tee hee" instead of "oh, lesbian, all about the ladies," then you're tossing a golden apple of representation "for the fairest" into your pool of bisexuals, pansexuals, and everybody else.

"Lesbian" straight from the character--heh--doesn't make up for the lack of bi rep, but it does stop that fight before it happens.

Third reason: you don't have to come out as straight; it's assumed. But culturally, queer people are very accustomed to having to come out. It lets us assess who around us might be a threat; it keeps us from being assumed straight.

Hang out with a bunch of us for an afternoon, and either you'll hear a lot of very specific terms for human sexuality, or we don't trust you.

Fourth reason: literally the only thing I have done today that was in any way influenced by my sexuality is write this thread, and it's only influenced because "Why did they have to SAY that they were queeeeer? I like DIVERSITY but there's no reason to FLAUNT it!" might not...

...have annoyed me so much if I were straight and it weren't poking a bruise. Things I have done, today, while queer: attended a WW meeting, spoke to several editors, wrote a bunch of words, played with cats. Today, the book of my life isn't about queerness. Oops, still queer!

We don't get to say "we want to represent a realistically diverse world" and "people I consider to deviate from my personal norm should only exist when they're relevant to the specific story being told about them."

I mean, obviously, we GET to say it, we can SAY anything, but if we do, we're hypocrites and assholes. We can be better.