
I don't think the request is that bizarre. Perhaps a little unintentionally insensitive or creepy, but definitely not malicious or even incorrect or anything.
I also wouldn't attribute it to homophobia or anything like that. Sometimes when writing romance it does help to have a little bit of a disconnect. RP exists in a strange online place; While I've roleplayed basically every sort of relationship a man can have, I still wouldn't try to romance many of my real-life friends. There's a "no homo" joke here somewhere, but I've always felt that romantic RP needs a spark of genuine passion or something to make it flare, even if knowing the person on the other side of the screen doesn't match you romantically or sexually, even if you're not looking for romance or sexy times, well, I find that reasonable.
I also wouldn't attribute it to homophobia or anything like that. Sometimes when writing romance it does help to have a little bit of a disconnect. RP exists in a strange online place; While I've roleplayed basically every sort of relationship a man can have, I still wouldn't try to romance many of my real-life friends. There's a "no homo" joke here somewhere, but I've always felt that romantic RP needs a spark of genuine passion or something to make it flare, even if knowing the person on the other side of the screen doesn't match you romantically or sexually, even if you're not looking for romance or sexy times, well, I find that reasonable.