Hi @Alex-Taylor , First of all, Happy Pride month 🏳️🌈🌈, and thankyou for sharing!
I'm so glad to hear that you have really lovely friends, who are supportive of your queerness.
I'm so sorry to hear you feel unsupported by your parents, and that you're unable to safely disclose your identity to them. This sounds really upsetting, especially given that parents are meant to be safe and supportive figures in your life, who you can go to for help.
It sounds like this particular friend who you have feelings is a really important person in your life, and someone whose support you really value. I think completely natural to develop feelings for friends, and something that a lot of people, particularly queer people, experience. It makes a lot of sense that the traits that you value in a friend are also those that you would look for in a romantic partner.
I'm sorry to hear that this is causing you pain and anxiety, having feelings for a friend is a really complicated experience. It sounds like this is especially challenging because this friend is the person you would typically speak to about this kind of emotional experience. As a queer person, I've also had feelings for a straight friend in the past, and it was something I found to be really emotionally painful, particularly knowing that that person was not able to reciprocate my feelings. I'm wondering if you might have another friend who you might feel comfortable and safe to discuss these romantic feelings with? I think there can be great power and comfort in sharing experiences with other people in our life 💜
