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I mostly agree with zen_tom, but wanted to clarify a couple things. It's not really true that Greeks "accepted you if you were gay." First of all, homosexual activity was only supposed to be between a mentor and his students. Adult homosexual relationships were frowned upon (Cf. The Symposium), since it was assumed one person had to take a subservient role, and so would be feminized. Moreover, it seems that generally the Greeks didn't have the category of 'gay' as such. They believed that one was attracted to beauty, and that more often than not, beauty was instantiated in the figure of a young boy.
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"Die Deutschen meinen, daß die Kraft sich in Härte und Grausamkeit offenbaren müsse, sie unterwerfen sich dann gerne und mit Bewunderung:[...]. Daß es Kraft giebt in der Milde und Stille, das glauben sie nicht leicht."
"The Germans believe that power must reveal itself in hardness and cruelty and then submit themselves gladly and with admiration[...]. They do not believe readily that there is power in meekness and calm."
-- Friedrich Nietzsche
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