This era of TV is probably the most bi-inclusive one I've ever seen. For the past few months, I've sat and watched in glee as some of my favorite TV characters have come out as bisexual.

Just a few years ago, this was pretty much unheard of.

It seemed like any time there was a character in a show or movie who showed interest in both men and women, they would just say that they "don't like labels" or that they were just going through a "phase."

The character would always have a one-time gay fling, then they would never show interest for someone of the same sex again. Examples of this include Angela Montenegro in "Bones" or Ramona Flowers in "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World."

Or they would go the Willow Rosenberg route. Willow is a character in the massively popular series, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." During the first three seasons of the show, she showed interest in men and only men. In the fourth season, she got a female love interest. Then, after that, she showed interest in only women.

I'm sure that this shift can happen in real life, but it just seems highly unlikely that someone who fell in love and was attracted to multiple men could fall in love with one woman and suddenly swear off men forever.

This was the perfect opportunity to make Willow a bisexual character, but the writers decided to push this lesbian narrative despite it being pretty out-of-character for her.

And even shows with a plethora of gay characters, like "Glee," shied away from the "bi" label.

This is why I was so surprised with this recent shift to include so many new bisexual characters. In fact, one of my favorite characters from the show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," Darryl Whitefeather, sings an entire song just about being bi!

In the show, when it appeared that Darryl was showing attraction towards a male character, I was already prepared for the "I was gay all along" story; but this twist actually made my jaw drop! It was the first time I had actually seen someone on TV use the word "bisexual" to identify themselves.

Even "Orange is the New Black," a show that gets applauded for its bi representation, doesn't have a single character that self-identifies as bisexual or pansexual.

But "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" has an entire song just devoted to a character coming out as bi! And in its most recent season, another major character, Valencia, has had a bisexual awakening too.

Even outside of "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend," there has been a wave of new bi characters or old characters discovering that they're bi. For example, there are Eretria and Lyria from "The Shannara Chronicles" and Petra and Adam from "Jane the Virgin."

Now, I don't want to minimize any gay representation in media because that's incredibly important as well. But I think that bisexual representation is just as important.

There are many misconceptions in today's world about bi people. For example, lots of people tend to think that bi people are actually just gay, but afraid to admit it. And though I do know several people who have used "bi" as a stepping stone to accepting themselves as truly gay, that is not everyone's experience.

Having characters like Willow from "Buffy," who suddenly go from straight to gay, only reinforces this misconception. This can be damaging to people who are afraid to come out as bi.

Also, like all groups who want to be represented in the media, bi people want to see themselves represented in a true and positive way.

Most bisexual people are not badass women on motorcycles that will eventually fall in love with the male protagonist, but for now, are kissing other women because they are edgy and don't like labels.

Bi people are normal people with dimensions, layers, and flaws. And seeing that represented on live television is a beautiful thing.

TV shows like the ones I mentioned (and some that I haven't) are going in a great direction with their bi characters. And I only hope that they continue in this direction.