Reddit mentions of Coming Out Under Fire: The History of Gay Men and Women in World War II

For the record, I didn't downvote you - it's perfectly fine not to like a ship. Different strokes, different folks, etc.

From the perspective of somebody who does love Steve/Bucky as a romantic/sexual relationship, though, part of the appeal for me is that stories about close friends who grew up together and are "like brothers" are a dime a dozen, and so are stories about the special bonds between men who serve together in combat, but stories about LGBT friendships and LGBT soldiers are much fewer and further between, so taken in the context of media as a whole, it's a more original angle to make them lovers.

Now that queer history is something that's being openly studied and published, we also know that Steve and Bucky grew up in an absolutely fascinating time period from a queer history perspective. There have been several noteworthy books in recent years about queer NYC in the 1920s-1940s (and Brooklyn specifically was very queer in that period), as well as an excellent one on LGBT soldiers in WW2. For fanfiction writers who thrive on what-ifs, it's hard to resist putting familiar, beloved characters into that context when the opportunity is right there.