Since finding out a few days ago that Benjamin Britten was a BL, I've thrown myself into discovering his music and more facts about his life:
It seems that he had one 'incident' in his 20s with a boy who responded extremely negatively (hit him with a chair), and after that, all his relationships with boys (many) were non-sexual, even if there was some physical contact (sharing bed, naked romps in the beach (!!!!), kissing, etc.)

He was 'married', in a sense, to his longtime partner Peter Pears, but all his life continued to love and nurture boys, many of whom had absent fathers or dysfunctional families.

It looks like this attraction (and the theme of innocence lost) is primarily what fueled his music. He viewed himself as an overgrown 13yr old. The guilt, frustration, confusion, etc. that we're familiar with on this board gave way to some very dark and beautiful, unsettling music.

I listened to Peter Grimes, considered to be his masterpiece by most, not really knowing what to expect in terms of meaning. I knew what the story was about in advance, but nothing prepared me for what was really inside. The story is a bout a fisherman who is ostracised by his fellow townspeople for the (accidental) death of his young aprrentice, eventually he's driven to his death at the end. Seems simple enough. But paired with the music, this story takes on a whole other dimension. Time and again I got the feeling that Britten was 'acting out' his own experience as a BL, excluded by society and all that stuff that's been touched on at this board regarding that topic. There is so much pain in the music at times I felt that this man truly knew what 'we' feel, but somehow set it in code, so only 'we' could really understand it. I dunno. I've never been so engrossed by a work of art, where I feel the author knows exactly what I feel as I'm experiencing it.

I'm looking forward to the other operas, most of which feature a boy in a leading role, but mostly for "Death in Venice". Guess what that one's about.

I don't know if any of you guys has ever listened to Britten, but I highly recommend him. Even some non-operatic pieces, like the Violin Concerto, seem to be 'coded' with this special language I find so achingly beautiful and unsettling.