Exactly. The WSJ op ed page had a column on this today that made that very point. You may want to hunt it down if you haven't already seen it. You are right-- had the Republicans pursued this any more than they did, I can just see the Washington Post/NYT headlines: "Sexual McCarthyism: For Gay Republicans, Suspicion and Homophobia are the Order of the Day."
Even worse, imagine if this was a gay DEMOCRAT. Can you imagine the howls of indignation if the Republicans made a stink about it? You'd see blanket coverage in the media of how the "religious right" is so anti homosexual, and how they are ready to persecute anyone who is "different".