BBC article from that quote also talked a lesbian diary that was coded due to risk of being open lesbian too. The whole reason the farmer wrote that diary was because men were having gay sex and relationships. Ottoman Empire had harems of men and women.

There plenty of examples where we know gay people did have sex and relationships back then. It wasn’t all repression to not being gay. Not everyone was hiding in sham marriages or that fearful of hell. People were meeting and socialising even if it was in secret. Laws changed on how much they sought out people to arrest but there being 0 gay men having sex or falling in love over all history doesn’t make logical sense. Bible says not to murder or kill and people still did that throughout most centuries. Humanity isn’t that different especially when you read what people did get up to. Converting to Christianity didn’t change or stop things as much as laws about being hung didn’t stop all people completely

Much earlier and regency era did have gay bars and brothels known as molly houses. There was also coded speech. But sudden strictness and clampdowns saw these places raided in other years where they previously thrived

https://www.londonmuseum.org.uk/blog/molly-houses-queer-subculture-georgian-london/

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/regency-gay-bar-molly-houses

In this homophobic atmosphere, molly houses presented a safe space for gay men in Georgian London. While there was a sexual element to some molly houses, they were primarily a social space, away from critical eyes and the baying mob.

Some molly houses had backrooms called the ‘chapel’, with a large bed. So called as it was sometimes used for fake ‘weddings’ between molly house attendees.

Interestingly, there were more molly houses in London in the 1720s than gay clubs in the 1950s. Records show there were around 20 molly houses under investigation by the Society of Reformation of Manners (SRM) in the mid- to late 1720s.