My aunt never married. I am sure some of her students over the year speculated about her, but she was just an “old maid.” My aunt is not a lesbian. She was/is quite a prude.
My own mother thought I was gay because I didn’t marry. It’s silliness from people of a certain age and from a certain era. People like Mom didn’t have much of an education, so they often believed in rumors, superstition and old wives’ tales. You would think that nonsense would die out in the information age. Guess not.