Dear Prudence,
I’ve had extreme friendship problems in the past, being a person who has trouble being empathetic. Luckily, I’ve managed to overcome those issues and ended up with a wonderful BFF. Recently, though, I’ve gained another friend who is very kind and has similar interests … except they won’t leave me alone! They’re consistently following me around, and because they’re not very popular, my other friends have stopped hanging out with me. I also like to complain offhandedly about my friends (I don’t really mean it half the time, and I never say anything actually insulting), but my new friend now thinks that all my other friends, including my BFF, are terrible and I should stop being friends with them! On top of all this, people have been approaching me asking about a RELATIONSHIP between me and my new friend or saying that it’s obvious that they like me. Besides having no romantic feelings for my friend, I am a lesbian who is only attracted to girls, and my new friend is nonbinary, but I don’t know how to approach this topic without sounding homophobic. What do I do!?
— Not Ready to Be Tied Down