In 2019, fans were pleasantly surprised when Maya's character on Stranger Things, Robin, was revealed to be a lesbian. She told Indie Wire that Robin's sexuality changed during filming. "Throughout filming, we started to feel like she and [Steve] shouldn’t get together, and that she’s gay. Even when I go back and watch earlier episodes, it just seems like the most obvious decision ever."

She added, "The Duffer brothers and I, and Shawn Levy had a lot of conversations throughout shooting and it wasn’t really until we were shooting episode four and five, I think, that we made the final decision,” she said. “It was kind of a collaborative conversation, and I’m really, really happy with the way that it went."

Although Maya did not comment on her own sexuality at the time, she did say, "Sometimes we can have empathy for people on screen that we wouldn’t normally have empathy for in real life. If I can hope for anything it’s that maybe some people fell in love with Robin and that helped them fall in love with girls who love girls and boys who love boys."

Stranger Things Seasons 1-4 are currently streaming on Netflix.