Hiya Shermi, the bible doesn't just hint at it. Amongst other things, it actually says that homosexuality is an abomination....
//You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.//
........ and that homosexuals should be executed.
//If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death.//
Why has it taken such prominence? I suppose because society demands that we live by the word of the bible, never mind how hypocritical that might make us. Just look at the Catholic priests who set themselves up as guiding lights to their flocks, and at the same time secretly abuse children.
Is humanity inherently homophobic? I don't believe so. We are all the product of the society we are born into, and if that society teaches us that homosexuality is a sin, there's a very good chance we'll grow up believing it. If the bible had never existed I believe our society would accept homosexuality as a natural way of life for a proportion of the population - which it is. The bible condemns many of those who believe its twisted doctrine to an unnatural existence, to needless guilt, to unfounded fear, and hence to pointless and unimaginable misery.