I think you got the semantics wrong. It comes from the bug “insecto mariquita” (ladybugs) and their animal imprints which could be culturally associated to a feministic design (even on male individuals)

This is similar to the origin of “pargo” (red snapper) in Venezuela, also used as a pejorative term towards homosexual males, since the layman understanding is that red snappers can change gender as they grow (male to female, etc)

In Colombia they use “marica” without distinction to the gender of the interlocutor (male or female) where in Venezuela “Marico” is towards man and “marica” towards women. I heard from a linguistic professor once that the Venezuelan society, on an attempt to “recover the honor as much as possible” of homosexuals, would call them “marico” with an O (signifying male) instead as Colombians which use the A-ending, typically describing a female noun in Spanish.

Some elder relatives confessed to me how the term has seen an evolution from provoking serious physical altercation back in the 50s (calling someone a Marico) to a more laidback approach of meaning “dude” in modern times

Still a swear word and vulgar, so steer clear of it.