When Gary had come to me with his revelation, I couldn’t react. My best friend since grade school, gay?

I felt awful for his long time girlfriend, Jess, that he had just broken up with. I had never thought that he could be anything other than straight, with his apparent adoration of her. How was she coping?

I wanted to support him, but I was a little hurt, and more than a little confused. How had there been this other side to Gary that I had completely missed? What other secrets could he be hiding from me?

I gave him a weak smile, and asked him if he wanted to go out to eat tomorrow, and we could talk then. The downcast look on his face made me feel terrible, but that was quite the bomb to drop on someone. It wasn’t that I was homophobic, I had just never applied it to anyone I know.

People say that a friend coming out of the closet shouldn’t change anything, but it does. Gary was still the same person, but I saw him in a truer light. Even though I wasn’t going to shun him, I needed a moment to gather my thoughts about this newer perspective.

Would I feel differently if I were a guy, I wonder? I like to believe that I would still be his friend, but I don’t know. What is one of my girl friends told me she was a lesbian? Would I allow things to become awkward between us?

I know, in theory, that it shouldn’t be different than any of my guy friends. Even though she would be attracted to girls doesn’t mean she would be attracted to me. But even the possibility is eerie when it’s another girl.

I am going to stand by Gary though this. I need to know that I can stand by my friends, even when things get a little strange.

The next day, at lunch, I was my usual, bubbly self with Gary. The relieved look on his face told me that I was in the right. While I did feel a guilty twinge for making him wait, I had the right to weigh how I feel about this. What matters is that I am going to stand by my friend, through good times and bad.

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