I’d assert that you’re the outlier on that one, but am willing to agree to disagree. US infrastructure passionately hates foot traffic most places. This assumes you are in the US, so it may be a bit apples and oranges there.
I’ve found most people really don’t care, or don’t care enough to be violent assholes about it. But the ones that do care have a tendency to be dangerous. And in isolated places like small towns, it’s real easy to follow the herd on things like that if you don’t personally know someone who’s gay. The issue there is more that you can’t really tell that about a place easily when you’re looking so it’s a bit Russian roulette.
Side note, without judgement: I wouldn’t recommend referring to being LGBT+ as a ‘lifestyle preference’. It implies that it’s a choice, which has been a sticking point for a long time. No one chooses to be an oppressed minority.