I wasn't there, I don't know the context, I can't judge how offensive this person was. I don't really see why you think it's somehow more likely that it's just "gay bashing in good fun," but that's really immaterial to the situation, since neither of us was there.

What I do know is that it is absolutely reasonable for an offended listener to talk to HR honestly about the situation. Not everyone is comfortable being directly confrontational about that kind of thing, and people in HR are paid to address exactly that kind of situation.

> Pull the guy aside at least, this is just another person, not a tiger, not a snake, just a human.

Tigers and snakes generally don't make racist/sexist/gayist remarks. Anyway, humans are far more dangerous...