Why is it easier to "come out" to someone I just met than to my friends of years?

It might be easier to come out to someone you barely know than a good friend because you have nothing to lose if they decide to leave you. You might have worked hard for years to maintain your friendship and friends, so losing them can seem like a huge loss.

It's possible it's easier because you don't have that bond with them that you do with your friends so you not as afraid of losing favor with the stranger :)

I think the more we know someone, the more precious our relationship is to the person and in this case our friends. Coming out and being LGBT has been a controversial issue to those who are not understanding about it. With this in mind, we are afraid of destroying the harmony we have with our friends. We don't know how they would react, therefore, it's a high risk situation. With an acquaintance it can be easily forgotten.

This is likely because you already have an established reputation with your friends since you have known them for much longer. It's often difficult to introduce new information to them that you feel could potentially change their perception of you. Sometimes it's easier to "come out" to someone you just met because they have no pre-conceived notions of you, your history with them is too recent for their to have been much judgement passed, and you may feel like you have nothing to lose by being honest, whereas there may be a fear of losing old friends.

It's because you have more of an emotional attachment to your friends, and therefore their rejection would impact you a whole lot more than compared to someone you just met. It feels safer. And sometimes it's good practice.

Because you don't need the new persons validation. You don't have the fear of rejection the same way. If it was your friend who rejected you, you'd be heartbroken. If it was the new person, you'd feel mild annoyance or nothing at all.

Because you're afraid of ruining something that has already been established, as opposed to a person you just met, who you don't have an established relationship with.

Sometimes telling the people that are closest to you things they don't already know can be a scary task. It's easier to come out to someone you just met because there's no emotional connection. There's no expectations or fear that they might change their opinion of you since none exists at that specific time. However, the process of telling past friends and seeing their reactions whether good or bad will help you determine whether they're worth keeping. Never be ashamed of who you are. Much love, Xoxo

Someone you just met has only known you for a short period of time, and consequently, their image of you won't change much. But when you're telling a friend of years, they've known you for so long and it can be worrying, thinking that they might not be accepting of you now.

Coming out to someone you don't know often means less because they're a much smaller part of your life than people you've known for a long time. When coming out to friends you have known for a long time, you feel that you may have more to lose or that there is more pressure because they mean more to you.