@bonjourfern
There is one notorious poster on here who brandishes it around as an insult for anyone who comes in who fancies no one
I'm not sure how long everyone's been on these threads but @unique1986 says this about virtually everybody, even those popular with the opposite sex (and tbh you should have the bollocks to tag the person you're talking about).
However, I agree that gay is often used as a slur and it's not acceptable. The reasons for Hugo's reticence has been explained far better by PPs then just those commenting "he's gay".