The most vocal homophobes probably aren't mostly a 0 on the Kinsey scale even if they're heterosexual given 0s probably are not the majority. Especially the kind who act like it's something that's okay if you hide it or think you can just turn it off, as described in OP's case.
Calling a 1 "gay" is obviously misleading, but from the perspective of many homophobes those occasional thoughts are problematic.