According to Sugar, her series' LGBT representation is not intended to make a point but to help children understand themselves and develop their identities. In her view, queer youth deserve to see themselves in stories as much as other children—and, given pervasive heteronormativity, not allowing them to do so can be harmful. LGBT children deserve to see the prospect of love for themselves in the characters with whom they identify—the ideal of fulfilling partnership and true love, established as the thing to aspire to by generations of Disney cartoons, extended to all. During a 2016 panel discussion, Sugar said the LGBT themes in Steven Universe were also largely based on her own experience as a bisexual woman.