Many times in my life I have felt like an outsider, whether it was at a time in my life when I was the new person in town or a first day on a new job. There were sometimes I have felt unwelcomed and I didn’t fit in. None of those times could have been compared to how a very good friend of mine, who I will call Vanessa, felt when she came out as a lesbian. Vanessa and I have been friends since we were children and spent a lot of time together over the years. We would go to parties or just hang out at home. We had a lot of the same interests and mutual friends. I had always known her to be interested in men and she dated men all the time I had known her. A few months ago Vanessa met a girl she took a liking to and soon discovered that this was someone she wanted to be with in a romantic way. I was a little surprised at first but soon came around to understand and completely support my friend. The other people in our group of friends and acquaintances weren’t so quick to stand by our friend. When Vanessa decided it was time for all of our other friends to know, she came right out and said it to anyone she cared about. I was appalled at some of their reactions! A few of them were downright rude. One so called friend called her names and walked out. A few others just walked away from her. I saw her shrink down, she looked very hurt. I could see how she wanted to cry and felt suddenly excluded from a group of people whom we had called our friends. I couldn’t believe how they treated her. As time