Minsc has a series of comic books. He is still just Minsc.
“Minsc, the legendary Ranger do-gooder with a heart of gold, brain of lead, and hamster of pronounced wisdom.â€
Don’t expect him to be any different in BG3.
There is no reason why Minsc couldn’t or shouldn’t be gay if the player wants to romance him.
Don't you think it would be dull to beat this petrified horse... again, after BGI&II?
He may be the old good companion he always was, but comic relief dialog would not look good with the current plot. It's not a swashbuckling adventure at all, even compared to BG II storyline and theme.
As for "if the player wants to romance" I'm of an opposite view, it's character inconsistency for me, in this case. When an NPC can have any kind of romance on a PC's whim, it makes the NPC less believable.
BG2 opens after you and your sister have just been brutally tortured, your souls ripped from your bodies, and 2 of your companions murdered. I don’t find the tone of BG3 to be at all inconsistent with the previous games. Balancing thematically bleak stories with Dungeons and Dragons style absurdity for comic relief has always been a part of the series, so Minsc is not out of place. I don’t think having Minsc as he was in BG1 and 2 would be dull. I’m looking forward to it.
How would Minsc being gay be inconsistent? Inconsistent with what? I don’t think there is any indication that he is straight in the first games.
Concerning relation to previous BG's and comic relief - we'll see how Larian will handle that. Some prefer a bit more salt in their food, others differently. But generally, players respect dialog quality, even if it's not completely to one's taste, aren't they?
Minsc is Rashemen. Rashemen as people are very close to Russians; "domovoi", "samovar" and many other relations show that.
Gay relationships were always a shame in Russian tradition (and the most surrounding territories).
Imagine that people living in Russia correspond somewhat with Minsc' portrayal and would not be glad to see him gay. It is as with Muslim people being called gay.
So yes, would not be a good choice to go this way with character development. Unless you want to offend because you wanted some liberty for your game character. There are always such things to consider (if you want to go that deep).
