Even Greener Pastures

Sofia, please note that the following is in no way intended to be a criticism of your question, okay?

It's just - has it occurred to anyone that we might be doing ourselves - well, our society - a disservice by wondering so much about correct terminology? Not that we shouldn't try not to offend people, of course! But shouldn't we start wondering more often whether some information we're about to give is actually pertinent to what we're discussing at a given moment?
What I mean is: you wouldn't say "my blond/obese friend Tom", would you? Not unless you were specifically discussing hair colour, dieting and/or prejudices. So, why keep saying "openly gay politician So-and-so says cyclists should be made to wear helmet", for example? I noticed that this kept happening when Berlin had a mayor who happened to be gay. And remember how often we heard and read words along the lines of "Barack Obama, first African American president of the US bla-bla-bla"? As if we were all colour-blind.
Do you think not pointing it out all the time would have made these politicians' race/sexual orientation appear a pink elephant?

Neal, I agree the woman was just looking for a reason to get upset. But if you happen to have a sizeable gay community near you, then why doesn't your son simply switch to the plural pronoun? Even though "Have them call me" would make it sound as if the person in question had a harem.