I Can't Find Any Direct Evidence to Connect Neusner as the Source for the Smith Gay Rumour

I looked through Google Books for other sources - nothing.  There is nothing in the writings of Neusner that suggest that he ever said that Smith was homosexual.  At most he exaggerated Smith's interest in portraying Jesus to be a homosexual.  He did publish an article which assumed that Smith was a homosexual without asking for a source to back up the claim.  Also he seems to have associated with people who took for granted that Smith was gay.  This might have been the result of a common mindset or a shared cultural view of men who die unmarried. Who knows. The bottom line is that there is no proof that Neusner is the source of for the claims of his close associates Donald Akenson (2000, 2001), Bruce Chilton (2006, 2007), Craig Evans (2009) have put into print. I think this investigation is closed.