He wasn’t gay it was just an act. His singing was impeccable and the best Elvis impersonator ever. Funny, he was right about when Elvis spoke you can never understand him. He could do Elvis down to a T.
He was a great showman and indeed no mean actor. Sadly he was also deeply and emotionally disturbed as a result of his childhood and this caused a lot of problems for a lot of people not least Fred himself. . Any account of his life needs to include both aspects.
He acted this way with all his interviewers. Male or female. But he did it for a laugh with the men. He could get away with it without getting into trouble. That's why he he kissed the men. ("You'a good looking fella aren't you?")
I’ve always had a vague suspicion under the persona he was a repressed homosexual. Just an opinion and I am not suggesting he was in practice. For someone who was not gay he didn’t half make a lot of gay jokes.
He acted gay, he didn't make many gay jokes that i can recall. He acted gay like all comedians as it's generally funny. It's hard to think of a comedian that hasn't acted gay for a laugh.