Chapter Text
Richie is less so afraid of his feelings, and more afraid about others finding out about said feelings. Whenever It uses Richie's sexuality against him, it's always when Richie is the only one present, or in vague ways that the rest of the losers probably won't pick up on. The wolfman from the novel is a fear of something uncontrollable making you hurt others, something trying to get out, the eyes could be seen as a fear of being perceived, with the Paul Bunyan statue attacking his lacking masculinity. In the movies the clown uses imagery related to abandonment and death to get to Richie, both consequences of Richie's "dirty secret" being revealed. Heck, they even have a closet behind one of the doors Richie faces in chapter two. This is part of the reason the clown never outs Richie, as he was able to directly admit and acknowledge how he feels about Eddie via the carving. This seems to show that he's afraid of coming out, so the clown can never directly state what Richie is afraid of to the other losers. By telling the others what Richie is afraid of, he essentially forces Richie to deal with his biggest fear, essentially making him harder to target by It.
Eddie on the other hand is afraid of his feelings. In the novel, the leper directly offers to blow Eddie, no hints at a secret, like it does with Richie. Granted, Richie's sexuality was not as clear in the novel, but lines like " he knew well enough" still hint at some emotions Richie is keeping from the others, similar to the secret in the films. Eddie is afraid of disease, with an emphasis on AIDS in both the novel and movie. The leper trying to blow him comes from the fear of AIDS itself, as it was believed to be a "gay" thing at the time. This in itself isn't great evidence, but we can look at Eddie's future relationships to get a better picture. Eddie's wife Myra is incredibly similar to his mother, and in all adaptations, he is implied to have married her as a direct result of trauma caused by his mother's abuse. He is stated directly in the book as unsure about proposing to her, and all iterations of their marriage are portrayed as unhealthy and relatively loveless. The miniseries removed Myra completely, and cannonically has Eddie still be a virgin when they return to Derry. In addition to this, Richie and Eddie have a strong bond in all adaptations, and have emphasis placed on how much they care about each other. Eddie is implied to have had no positive romantic relationships in his adult life, but still keeps his bond with Richie. Eddie is never shown to act on desire, as trauma has caused him to become very emotionally repressed in many ways. He fears being "unclean" so he represses all the things he thinks are "dirty". If Eddie is attracted to men, he may not even be aware of it because of this repression. And if he was aware, his biggest fear would probably be something confirming he was dirty, like AIDS contracted from a man blowing him. He is directly afraid of sexuality in general, with his repression being even more rooted in trauma if he is attracted to men.
Both characters are repressing their own sexuality, but in vastly different ways. Richie is relatively comfortable with how he feels, his issue is with others knowing, while Eddie represses all of his feelings due to them being "dirty"