I think the gay thing was being introduced into our viewing choices decades ago.
I recall that the popular TV series of the mid to late ‘70s, Starsky and Hutch, had a character called Huggy Bear who was a flaming gay black guy. He played a comedic role and they never showed him in a gay situation.
I used to watch that show, & never knew he was supposed to be homosexual.
I can also remember the big bookstores (Walden and B. Dalton) during the late 70’s and early 80’s having a “gay and lesbian” book section - an entire category by themselves. It just stood out so bizarrely to me. Ironic that it always seemed to be right next to the “self-help” section.