Back then it didn't look gay..... That song was huge worldwide and they were the pussy wrecking machines of the 80's (specially the bassist ) makeup and all. ( no homo). 
Oh trust me, it looked gay back then too. I was getting ready to graduate high school (1984), all we listened to was metal (Priest, Maiden, Ozzy, Mercyful Fate, 1st Metallica album, etc).
This crap came out and was a joke... MTV was just getting ready to take off in our area, so this crap was all over the tube...