For the Ladies....

'I had always heard that Midnight Cowboy was a gay themed movie. Nothing wrong with that at all'
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How do you hear that?
It's not a gay themed movie--unless some people NEED it to be for some reason. I suppose Joe being willing to receive oral sex from a man is not consistent with what I'm saying,

Gay men are not interested in being prostitutes for women,and having Rasto as a friend does not mean he sexually wants him. Of course, in our society,if a man shows a personal interest in another man,it's seems abnormal to many. A man will even back away if another man asks too many questions,aside from how they liked the football game.

He never showed up in any of my fantasies.

The sexualities of the 2 main characters are never established. People are still debating about it till this day. Maybe the character from the sitcom thought that he didn't want a blow-job from another guy but he was desperate for money.

I'm old and straight, but Joe Buck was definitely hot. Of course, he was also dumb as hell and that helped prevent him from succeeding. The hot Shirley noticed him and became smitten by him and could have put him on his way to success as a gigolo. Alas, fate intervened and Joe was loyal to his newfound family (Ratso), and jettisoned his incubating career to become a caregiver.

I think Joe fits into a particular kind of fantasy some women have, that you see embodied in books and films like Tim. He's hot, physically strong and fit, sexually appealing, but also very vulnerable, because he lacks any 'street smarts', even perhaps has borderline learning difficulties. In short he's a beautiful 'manchild', needing to be taken care of.

As such he won't seek to play power games, or attempt to dominate or compete with a woman. He will just be grateful for her affection and attention, attaching himself like an adoring puppy; a completely trusting, trustworthy, loyal and unthreatening lover. His devotion is to her, just as she is, unconditional and devoid of cynicism. He won't ever judge her looks, so won't trigger insecurities about ageing or her body; sexually she can be free and open about enjoying physical intimacy with him. In return, she gets to act out her need to nurture, and protect him from a harsh world, and he brings out huge feelings of tenderness in her.

I can see the appeal of that 'type' of man or relationship. In a way it's related to another much more familiar male 'fantasy' figure in fiction, the damaged, tormented man in need of 'healing' or redemption, but with the fangs drawn. Personally I prefer the latter though - Ratso was the character I wanted to scoop up, bathe, feed soup to and, erm, cuddle ;-)

I think the main characters (Voight and Hoffman) are straight and in the movie there is no implication at all of a sexual relationship between the two. Having said that, the director was openly gay (pretty sure) and there were plenty of gay references & motiffs littered throughout the movie (starting with the opening sequence with Voight in the shower). Plus the fact that in the movie, Voight was more successful at soliciting sex from men than women (in the movie theatre, the demented preacher, the guy he steals money from to take Ratzo to Florida). Plus the fact that it is basically a love story between two men (even though as I said, no physical relationship is ever implied). As to your last question, that I don't know (being a straight male).