One interesting case in US history involved an affair of Alexander Hamilton. It resulted in not only a lot of extorted money, but legal and political intrigue as well:
Not really, the UK during the Cold War had an ongoing problem with homosexual affairs in the Intelligence community (and the Soviet Bloc would even actively exploit this with agents who would seduce suspected or known homosexual employees) - particularly an issue given the time frame and location - many such people were ostensibly happily married, with children, and faced social and professional ostracization, even beyond legal and other threats aimed at them as a result.
well, my point is the past 2 centuries != N thousands of years.