I always read Francis Cheviot as possibly gay, but most distinctly unsympathetic.
Penhallow has one clearly lesbian character - the daughter, Charmian (?), who even has a girlfriend who likes pink, (alas, all of my books are in storage, so I can't verify names) and one possibly gay character, the son Aubrey, who writes clever poetry and hurls insults at everyone. And many of the characters seem to think that the youngest son, Clay, is gay, although he really just seems to be utterly useless. I can't exactly claim this as win for gay portrayals, though, given that Penhallow is such a repellent book.
Re: I love Heyer's Regency and 18th-century novels so much
Penhallow has one clearly lesbian character - the daughter, Charmian (?), who even has a girlfriend who likes pink, (alas, all of my books are in storage, so I can't verify names) and one possibly gay character, the son Aubrey, who writes clever poetry and hurls insults at everyone. And many of the characters seem to think that the youngest son, Clay, is gay, although he really just seems to be utterly useless. I can't exactly claim this as win for gay portrayals, though, given that Penhallow is such a repellent book.