He is such a real person. His anxiety and feelings are so coherent with his personality. For ages he had suppressed his feelings and believed that, no matter what, he should never ever give his feelings free reign, because he didn't want to get hurt. He must have always repeated to himself that "no matter what, it is me who will get hurt in the end", and this is why it is just so hard to just date normally, without feeling any anxiety.
As for guilt, even if he believes that his feelings are valid, it is still very very difficult to feel free and safe when you have always been taught to be ashamed of your feelings, to be ashamed of who you are. It isn't that he himself has internal homophobia, but after hiding himself for so long, you just become conditioned to feel shame no matter what. He feels discomfort in doing something he had been denying himself of doing for ages, and his shame also translates into guilt, probably.