The league has always been willing to put up with your bullshit, if what you do on the field is worth it. Right now, being gay still means locker room drama and some amount of media/fan controversy, so a warm body like Kerry Rhodes isn't going to have a high enough production:bullshit ratio.
You're not wrong, but teams have still signed guys of a similar talent level as Rhodes with their own bullshit going on. It's just that gay baggage is "worse" right now than arrest record baggage.