As far as lesbians go, most people find them far less offensive than gay men. Even the Bible makes a distinction. Most people aren't nearly as offended by lesbians as they are by gay men. That's been the case for thousands of years. I don't know if you're religious, but nevertheless some passages in the Bible make it clear than man on man sex is an abomination, and those texts have been around for a long time.
In present times when someone says that they find homosexuality repulsive there talking about gay men the majority of the time.
Nope. Both male and female same sex activity is condemned.
Romans 1: 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural , 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil ; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice ; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful ; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Actually, homosexuality in ancient Rome wasn’t an “experiment.” Nor was it restricted to the army out in foreign lands. It was an accepted choice of Romans, from the well-to-do to the poorest. Homosexual marriages were considered normal, if law records are to be trusted. Such relationships were never forbidden; there are no laws on record which outlaw homosexuality in either the Roman armies, or in their civil society. It was just another taste, apparently. Our modern sense of distaste is just that - modern.
It may have been the the Romans were actually adopting the patterns of the Greeks, who were considered to have set the foundations of a civil society. Plato himself thought, and wrote, that the more more advanced a society, the more it would accept homosexual unions. Only despotic societies would outlaw homosexual relationships, Plato wrote, because the despot would feel so threatened by the intense male-male friendships that these unions created.http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/pwh/1979boswell.asp
You can find a great deal of information about ancient attitudes towards homosexuality on the web. Obviously, a lot of it has been produced by gay historians, so they have a point to make. But you can judge the historical evidence they’ve uncovered for yourself. It’s generally recognized that its was the attitude of the Christian Church towards homosexuality which overwhelmed the far more accepting approach of the ancient pagans.
All that the historical evidence means is that it gets rid of one reason to oppose societal acceptance of homosexuality. At least two major societies - one of them lasting for centuries - not only permitted, but approved of, homosexuality. That acceptance of same-sex relationships is part of the reason the Church condemned Roman civilization.
I agree with you about a different attitude towards lesbianism. In many societies, such relationships between women were actually encouraged. I always though it was a practical decision. If you’re on a campaign and out of town for a few years, you won’t have to give your name to a bastard if your wife is involved within another woman.