It took me a long time to reconcile my sexuality with my strong identification with the masculine gender. When I was in puberty, the closest thing I had to a positive gay role model was Billy Crystal in Soap. Granted it was a generally positive portrayal of a generally positive character, but even he had gender issues that I simply didn't identify with. The few gay men I was aware of at this time were all queens. It took me a long time to realize that I could be strongly masculine and still be enthusiastically gay.
Homosexuality carries a lot of baggage with it.
Things aren't as bad as they've been in the past, but there's still a long way to go. In many ways my experiences as a left-handed person prepared me for a life as a minority. I prefer not to get involved in the nature vs. nurture debate. I'll let scientists and scholars debate the origins of sexual orientation. I will say, however, that anyone who thinks that homosexuality is a conscious choice, as if the options were weighed and a decision arrived at through deliberate means, is not living fully in the age of reason.