Was a Big Brother UK housemate being homophobic?

The UK edition of Big Brother is, once more, generating controversy. This time it's because one of the housemates called another one a "poof" without punishment. This caused Pink News to ask if the program is giving homophobic language a pass. The question arose because arlier in the season a housemate was evicted for using the n-word and the program is facing a lot of public scrutiny after being sanctioned over a racist slur used in the Celebrity edition.

The offending anti-gay word was used by Laura Williams in a conversation with Liam McGough. Liam isn't gay and, reportedly, Laura used the word to mock Liam's masculinity. Big Brother broadcaster Channel 4 responded to the complaints by deeming Laura's use of "poof" as not derogatory, but asking Laura not to use the word again. Later, she used the word in asking gay housemate Gerry Stergiopoulos if he were offended by the word. Gerry said he was "fine" with the word, though Laura accepted that the word was offensive in the diary room.

I find myself empathizing with the offended Big Brother viewers. I don't understand how strong an anti-gay slur "poof" can be, but if Laura was using the word to question Liam's masculinity, would that be similar to how some people say "That's so gay" as a general insult? Laura probably didn't mean to use the word in anger or with an intent to hurt either Liam or Gerry's feelings, but couldn't that also be said of some people who use "gay" as a generally negative word? Then again, Emily also didn't use the n-word in anger, either, and she was evicted for it.

Still, I'm not sure if I see a similarity to how Emily Parr used a racial slur earlier in the season. The word Emily used is one she should have known better than to use. What Laura said can be excused as cluelessness (the first time, anyway.) From what I've been able to read about the incident, it sounds reasonable for Laura to get only a warning.

You can check out a (potentially NSFW) clip where Laura is reprimanded (it's at the very end.) I find the warning rather weak, especially considering how in Emily's eviction, she was asked to consider the words she used.

What do you think? Is "poof" as powerful a word as "faggot?" Does the context excuse Laura's use of the word? Are the viewers who complained being too sensitive?