Torchwood is a great show for many reasons, most of which is the shows exploration of human sexuality. Too often people fear what they can't categorize, so they put labels on things. Nothing was born with a label, it is people that decided to call dogs "dog" and cats "cat" and it was people that invented the words heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual. Torchwood doesn't use labels; Ianto doesn’t call himself bisexual, he just is who he is. No one on the show uses such labeles because it’s not natural. These labels weren't used until recently in human history. If you were to go back in time to the ancient Greek and ancient Roman empires, homosexual behavior is commonplace. No where in the ancient texts is that label used though, instead it's called "love." Man on man love, or man on boy love, are two terms often used in those texts to describe the actions. The only rule regarding this act in ancient Greece was that once you were married all other actions had to stop. This is something that should still be practiced, once you're married stop having affairs. In these days you hear all too often about married men and women cheating on each other. And they call this being civilized? I don't even know why people get into relationships if they want more than one partner, just stay single.
Torchwood recognizes that sexual attractions can’t have rules; you can't tell someone "don’t be attracted to that person, they are the same gender as you." The show breaks down the artificial barriers that the fearful put up around human sexuality, and reinforces that this kind of behavior is normal; just as it has been for thousands of years before a group of hateful narrow-minded people decided to put a taboo on it.
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