I'm quite willing to concede that upbringing, life style, etc., have
impact on an individual's musical creations; that sounds reasonable.
However, once past that issue, what difference does it really make? Music
has to stand on its own to be valued by future generations.  In that sense,
whether a composer is gay or not means nothing.

If I found out tomorrow that Bach was a homosexual or child abuser, his
music would still be of the same quality and enjoyment level.  Having said
this, I well understand the desire of folks in any minority grouping to be
able to look at a field of endeavor, such as musical composition, and
satisfy themselves that there are others in their grouping that have
reached the heights of artistry in their chosen fields.

The Temple that my wife and I are members of has a book/music shop with
inventory totally devoted to Jewish authors, composers, and performers.
That's not my cup of tea, but most of the members who partake of the shop
are mighty happy to go in there and make their selections from only Jewish
sources.  Humans tend to have a group mentality, and that's the way it
goes.  You might ask why a firm non-believer would join a religious
institution; I ask myself that same question whenever I'm trapped in
the sanctuary.  There's only one answer - true love of one's mate.

Anyways, I have no doubt that Britten's environment and the way he ran his
life impacted his music.  If you put all of yourself into your creations,
the baggage as well as the good stuff goes in there.  If not, the result is
superficial.  And I find that music that seems to come only from the brain
is very limiting and lacks nourishment.  There are millions of intelligent
people inhabiting the Earth; the number of inspired artists is only a small
fraction of that total.

Don Satz
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