What's the difference anyway?

So I was having a conversation with one of my closest lifelong friends tonight, and the subject of going to jail and receiving "a human booster shot" came up. Their response was that was something he wouldn't want forced upon him. This is obviously nothing that anyone would want forced upon themselves, but there was an unusual amount of emphasis on that word. Forced. Long story short he was telling me he was gay.

Initial response: Oh.

The part that really bothered me was that he claimed he told me last summer...twice. I thought back on it, and realized that in passing he had mentioned something to that effect. I just sort of brushed the comments off as sarcasm. Not because it's something I would refuse to accept or something. More because he's the type of person to make a joke like that. Especially because he said it in passing like it was nothing important. In the big scheme of things, it's not. However we've been like brothers our entire lives, and something like that seems like it would yield more than just a passing comment. I guess that's selfish on my part though. I have no right to tell people how to deal with something like that. It must be hard enough without people telling you how to do it.

Needless to say we had "the talk" this time; and I'm glad we did because he was relieved at how lax I took it. That's not the point of all this though. The point is that almost everyone else has been less than supportive to say the least. That's what bothers me. These are the people closest to him, who can't get past their socially enforced blinders to see that he's the same person he's always been.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. I guess my hippie-training from being raised in Boulder has led me to think too highly of the world. I know there's gay hatred, (gaytred?) and malfeasance out there, and in high effect in some areas. I'm not that naive. I just don't get how things that don't effect you can make you turn on a dime on someone like that. Someone you say you love. It's not like it's contagious. We know that now!

And he's better off now too. He's been in a relationship for over a year. Before that he hadn't had a girlfriend for that long combined. So why would people want him to be miserable alone? And I mean ALONE. He was quite a recluse prior. He drank much much more, and caused himself a large amount of mental and physical damage. There were serious problems that were not showing any signs of dissipating. So how is this a bad thing in any way? It's mind-bottling.

I guess I'm just wondering: What's the difference anyway?

Please chime in. Am I wrong on something? Am I way off? Am I not?