I'm a girl and about a month or so ago I came out to my friend (a boy) that I'm gay. I never told anyone before and I really wanted to tell someone about it because I felt like everyone would reject me if I came out and it became very difficult to deal with on my own. I really trusted him. But when I told him he said he hates the idea of me being gay and kept emailing me articles about how people could change their orientation and how a woman thought she was a lesbian and then got married to a man. He even offered to pretend to be a couple so maybe I could "reform" and turn straight if I ended up liking him. He then started bombarding me with talk about how I'd go to hell but maybe avoid hell if I didn't actually act on my attraction to girls. He questioned how hard I tried not to be gay. In desperation I broke off the friendship as it was dragging me down and I already felt bad about myself and completely on my own. I spoke to a teacher who told me to keep my mouth shut about it (fair enough because in the Middle East being gay is illegal) and that I might not be gay but going through a phase. When I told my mum I might be gay she said I wasn't and that I just didn't meet the right boy yet. My father said he didn't care about me being gay and would prefer if I was and still does say that a lot but I get the feeling that neither of my parents like the idea. I get the impression that they think they went wrong somewhere. Honestly, I feel like I'm letting everyone down and I have to listen to homophobic slander in school everyday. The boys pretend to be gay and say that it's their way of being homophobic. Others say that they think being gay is either a choice or a disease that needs curing. The school isn't inclined to stop the homophobia because it's against the law to be gay here anyway. It's not nice to come out the closet and then have to run back in and lock myself in there again. I feel like I'm letting my parents down and don't know how to handle it really. I'm depressed and feel awful as it is an this is only one part of my jumble of problems that have to be dealt with. How do I ignore all the gay bashing slander and feel good about myself? I can't even do my homework in school without them talking about gays 24/7. Then I come home and I just know my mum and dad don't see me the same way as they used to. They don't act like they did before I told them. Advice?