Also I come from a different background to the most of those who are here. In Russia, we have this state propaganda that seals homophobia and since nobody is trusting the government propaganda, a lot of people are simply curious what it is to be gay (or bi, trans). And homophobia is not typical to what I hear from my peers in the west: it often has somewhat patronizing form of "don't you know that if you say you're gay, you'll get a lot of trouble". It was literally the thing I said to a lovely gay couple when we went to the bar in Saint Petersburg.