I mean, growing up in the 80s myself I never met a gay person, and I used to move around a lot and met many peeps. A few were suspect, you know, feminine type, but it was never "yo, im gay" or "I dont like girls" It was never outed back then because you would get ridiculed for the rest of your school life for sure. That shit didnt happen until the 2000s when it became fashionable to be gay.
In fact one of my real good buddies throughout the 90s, 2Ks died in a motorcycle accident and his boyfriend came to the funeral. And he never outed himself to any of us, and we were his closest friends. And none of us would ever gave a shit either, its just how it was back then.