I think there may be a bit of a generational divide on this. I think it's fair to say that on average, those discovering their sexuality and coming out and falling in love in the last decade in places like North American and European democracies had different, broader, and in a not insignificant number of cases less dangerous and more welcoming experiences than those coming out in the late 90s/early 2000s, which in turn were different than those coming out in the late 70s early 80s, a huge swath of whom are dead from AIDS.
For a lot of older people it seems like the gayness struggle was the biggest part of their experience and stores focused only on that resonate with them (not just because of their experience but also because of the very limited amount of media showing such relationships back then); while now, homophobia is not monolithic and younger people's experiences have so much variation that readers want more: they want people and the stories about them to be more than just about their gayness and not clinging to stereotypes which are outdated, or assuming there is only one way to be and "act" gay.
This perspective is not to downplay in any way the struggles LGBT people, especially youth, still have everywhere in coming out. My own daughter, a young teen, confessed to me that she was scared to death of our reaction when she came out. I actually had to work hard to maintain my composure as I gently told her "My dear child, you have two dads, why would you think we would be upset in any way?" 🤣
