While we now have the privilege of being able to proudly preach that love is love without facing serious repercussion (in North America, at least), society hasn't always been so accepting.
At various times throughout history, there was only severe sexual repression and hostility towards homosexual relationships. But during these periods when such romances were "the love that dare not speak its name," as Oscar Wilde once wrote, radical romantics still found ways to express their love for one another.