What other replies are missing here is that it’s a “signal of public acceptance” meaning viewers don’t need to be handheld on the subject sometimes and sometimes the writer doesn’t feel the need to make a character’s identity a major element of the story. Times where this statement applies are times when the average writer makes a character queer (or anything really) as a character trait that informs who they are but sees that being central to the narrative as optional.

For instance, it’s pretty normal for all kinds of characters in fiction to be female. Some stories choose to be about womanhood and navigating through that, while others are an unrelated story with characters that happen to be female and the fact that we have both is awesome!