Don’t you hate it when you have friends who set off your gaydar like a freaking AIRHORN IN YOUR EAR, and you wish they would just hurry up and come out of the closet so you can support them? 

I have a younger friend like that.  He’s so gay, it might as well be tattooed across his forehead.  Everyone knows it, too!  His family would be fine with it, they are such wonderful people.  I want him to know it’s ok to come out to me, so we can talk about boys and advice and stuff!  I’ve known him for years and years, since I used to babysit him and his brother, and as a mentor figure I feel like it’s practically my RESPONSIBILITY to be able to talk to him about these sort of things.

EDIT: I feel the need to clarify, because I’ve gotten comments on Twitter/Livejournal where people seem to think I’m talking about outing someone against their will.  Absolutely not, that would be a horrible thing to do!   It’s especially a touchy subject when the person in question has  been harassed for acting effeminate in highschool, which I believe is the reason this guy is so afraid to come out now.

My best friend in highschool was a lot like this guy, except that he tried SO hard to “act straight” that he fooled everyone, including me, for years.  It didn’t help that he was also close friends with a really homophobic person, which made it much harder for him to eventually come out to everyone else.

I’m just trying to figure out a nice, non-awkward way of letting someone know I’m not a homophobe, so that they feel ABLE to discuss things with me if they want to.  It’s important for people to feel secure that they won’t be harassed or ridiculed, particularly at such a critical stage of their life.