The eunich Varys reminds me of the Fool in his androgyny as well in his flawless portrayal of the opposite sex. Both are very good actors and seem to demonstrate profound knowledge and understanding of genders.

There was speculation of Renly and Loras having had a relationship, which I think was confirmed by GRRM and hinted at by comments from various characters. A 'Knight of Flowers' and Renly's 'Rainbow Guard' certainly seem to be hinting at their orientations. Flowers and rainbows aren't exactly associated with 'manly' heterosexual connotations for sure. But it is interesting that they are such popular figures in Westeros society. They have qualities that some may consider more feminine than most other men, yet that doesn't diminish their image but rather enhances it. You wont be hearing it from Renly, though. And though Loras was finally developed more as a character in Feast for Crows, you can never tell who GRRM is going to kill off next.

The only actual same-sex sexual encounters through a POV I can recall right now are between Dany and Irri and Cersei and the Myrish Swamp (I love that nickname.) I don't quite believe both Dany and Cersei are actually bisexual rather than mostly heterosexual but bicurious. What I found interesting is the fact that neither considered sex with another woman to be out of the question, but had never considered doing it until the brink of the actual act. Both treated it as a release of some sort so there wasn't any emotional/romantic involvement other than their own introspection. Otherwise, there didn't seem to be any repulsion of the idea of having had sex with another woman.

Maybe this reflects the larger social attitude that believes non-heterosexuality as the only sort of sexual orientation that is socially acceptable? It doesn't seem like there is all that much opposition against homosexuality, unlike western society irl (where religion is invoked in these matters,) aside from maybe mussing up social protocols and the fact that same sex couples can't have kids. And in medieval Westeros, the more kids the better, as they're liable to be killed very easily.

Of course, attitudes differ across various cultures. Dorne seems to have a much more liberal and tolerant view towards sexuality across the spectrum, so far as to have an openly bisexual prince and princess, as well as state acknowledgment of children born out of wedlock. The Summer Islanders also view sex as an integral (and pleasurable) part of their culture and society.

Here is an article about GRRM's portrayal of gay characters in the series:

Quote:Was Martin intentionally intending to defy stereotypes?

“Yes,” he says. “But there are other gay characters in the books that are villainous or that are bad in various ways. I think every group has good and bad people in it, whether we’re talking an ethnic group or a religious group. So I try to portray a variety, especially when I have hundreds of characters. So I can do a gay hero and a gay villain and a gay coward and a gay brave person, just as I can do fat people who are good and bad, and so on.