The author was in a relationship commonly called a Boston Romance. I didn’t think that was a big thing. It’s essentially two unmarried women who lived together most of their adult lives. I’m sure some were lesbians just as I’m sure most weren’t. We’ll probably never know one way or the other as modesty forbade them blabbing about their sex life.
All that, however, is beside the point.
The song is the thing. It’s not about her.
If you had followed to silliness @ Breitbart or politico you would have seen that the song was only the occasion, or the pretext, and mockery was "the thing".
They planted a seed called "outrage" (think about the connotations of the word and then apply it in context to the reaction to this silly ad) and then did their best to fan the flames in order to further their point - that being that "Rethuglikkkans" (I kid you not) hate everyone who doesn't look exactly like them (insert white reference here).
The lesbian angle was offered up as a dovetail wedge issue with a similar trope - right-wingers are intolerant of homosexuals so shove it in their faces that a song they adore was written by a (gasp!) lesbian. Nevermind that no one can prove that she was anything more than a female spinster who had a platonic relationship.
In fact, one pointed me to an "article" he had published when prompted for evidence (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/america-the-beautiful-author-is-rush-limbaugh-s-favorite-lesbian-socialist) that not only failed to shed any light on the homo issue but did illustrate how they were attempting to link conservative pundits including Rush by false attribution.
My favorite libtard mix-up was where a couple of them insisted that "E Pluribus Unum" meant "out of one, many" as a parallel to the insipid diversity is our strength BS. I guess my point is that it is they who invented the controversy, incited and inflamed it, all to astroturf a situation where they could gather an intemperate comment or two to use against us. We should make them have to work for it.