But that does not necessarily mean he was gay, those were just different times, the culture has changed.

Another thing, housing was scarce and expensive in those days. Young men on the way up often lived in boarding houses when they moved to the city, so sharing a bed was an economic necessity, and probably quite common. Access to women (except for prostitutes) was fiercely restricted, by class and economics, even for those who just sought mere conversation and polite social contact.

Sexual contact between men, either by mutual consent or forced, is not necessarily evidence of homosexuality either. The gun decks of Nelson's ships of the line were notorious for their widespread buggery, as are contemporary American prisons.

We do know one thing, rape of black women by white men was widespread in the South, and no doubt there was consensual intercourse, recreational as well as commercial. We know Victorian London was notorious for its child brothels. The nineteenth century was a hypocritical age. Underneath all that gentility and politesse lay real violence and immense cruelty.