Yes, it probably was. And it's just as sad.
Burden of proof is on you to prove that "every sufficiently notable LGBT individual" has received "wildly disproportionate abuse, like death threats".
Re:Brendan Eich Steps Down as Mozilla CEO
by ceautery on Thursday April 03, 2014 @03:51PM
(#7525864)
I don't know that there's a list of famous people including sexual orientation and whether they've received death threats or not. However:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6239098.stm - 17% of UK gay students report receiving death threats
http://www2.fbi.gov/ucr/hc2008/victims.html - 17% of hate crimes in the US (2008) are related to sexual orientation (mainly against male homosexuals).
I think it would be fair to extrapolate that famous gay people also receive plenty of death threats.
It must have been difficult for him to receive the same treatment as every sufficiently notable LGBT individual.