Good point, even just being able to use it as a tool to play "gay or not" has some pretty aweful implications for people who aren't openly gay.
They can tell the user to await an e-mail from them with the confirmation link. Then if the e-mail address is already in use, send an e-mail saying, "somebody, probably you, tried to register as <new-username> on <site> but we have you down as <old-username> already". Otherwise, send a normal confirmation link.