I have tons of gay mates (well about 3 or 4) it really doesn't matter.
When I was at school someone in my year "came out of the closet" and it seemed that for a while the guys in my year (who were socially retarded so should not be considered a basis to judge boys in general) all felt a little nervous around this guy, i think in their minds they were worried it might make them look gay by hanging out with this guy or that he might fancy them.
After a couple of days though, when everyone found out that this declaration did not affect the guy's ability to play football or tell a joke, and that he didn't start wearing pink and prancing about bitching about celebrities, everyone's stereotyped image disappeared and everything was back to normal.
But the some of the guys who I work with who are gay are really camp, and others aren't but they are still able to have normal friendships with people of either sex.
The moral of the story is that now that we are in the 21st century, nobody, (apart from the bible and the elderly) have a problem with people expressing their sexuality so why should we?