comment: >
  
  Clearly this person posted an unpopular opinion, in a place designed for them. 
  You don't have to shit on them. Chill out.
context: Jokes on her, I cheat with my male friends. >
  
  I'll be home in a few hours honey, just watching the ballgame. >
  
  So many balls in our games babe… they loaded all the bases >
  
  Oh lol babe, boys will be boys I guess. Take your time coming home, me & the quilting club have some rough scissoring to do. >
  
  Girls will be girls 😂 >
  
  wow. an unpopular opinion finally graced this sub >
  
  An unpopular opinion that doesn't sound made up >
  
  It's definitely her real opinion, and it's definitely unpopular. 
  Maybe at a certain point, your life partner should be your best friend, ya know? 
  But the idea that a platonic friend can't be opposite gender is beyond stupid. Are bi people and nonbinary people just not supposed to have friends at all? Seems to me the real issue is whether you want to keep true to any promises of monogamy, or not. >
  
  
  Maybe at a certain point, your life partner should be your best friend, ya know?
  
  I don't know, that has always bugged me. To me they are different....
  You know? My best friend is Steve, he was best man at my wedding. Sarah is my wife and I love her. 
  Except in my situation my best friend is Ashley, I was the best groomsmaid at her wedding, Sarah is my wife and I love her.
  They are my best friend, not my life partner. I think the "life partner" title trumps the "best friend" or else I'd just have married Ashley as we had known each other for years before. >
  
  I don't understand how you can be better friends with anyone other than your life partner, but you do you. >
  
  Again, I see them as different. 
  Life Partner > Best Friend. 
  One I devoted my life to, the other is the best of my friends. 
  I'm married, I got a wife, yes? I also have friends that are not my wife, yes? So in that category we call "friends" I would rank one as best.
  That's my best friend, as a general rule I'm not fucking my friends...that's reserved to my wife. Is she my soulmate, life partner and person I'd murder for: yes. 
  Do I have people I consider friends: yes.
  Is there a person that is the best of the group of friends and I didn't marry: yes.
  Hence they are my best friend.
  But you do you. >
  
  OP. 
  I’ve gone back and forth on this a lot over my life. The best advice I can give you is that it’s entirely case dependent and you can’t generalize. 
  There’s a lot of guys who are friends with a girl to get with them. There are a lot of girls who keep a guy around as another option. There are a lot of guys and girls (and non binary folks) who do neither and just have friends that they considered genuine siblings. 
  The only rule that one should follow is - you know your partner so don’t put them in a position where they have to be uncomfortable with you. Maintain a decent enough boundary with people who you yourself and your partner are/aren’t ok with and live your lives.
  If you or your partner cheats because of their friend of the opposite gender; they’re a shitty partner. If they make you feel uncomfortable for asking for boundaries; they’re a shitty partner.
  I conclude with the reality that boundaries are a two way street. I know a lot of religious guys that say their SO can’t have male friends, but still hang out with women who’ve expressed the desire to get together. I’ve seen women get angry at a guy for talking to a girl, and have 3 backups. Neither is ok. 
  Just live your life and dw >
  
  Personally as a straight dude I like to keep a bunch of girls as friends because they are very caring and rational. Whenever I go to a girl with my problems they always have much more fulfilling advice than my guy friends. I'm not even attracted to most of them they just get me more than guy friends >
  
  Also, having platonic  girl friends is a great way to screen out bad apples when dating. 
  As a guy I miss a lot of red flags that girls pick up right way. I also miss a lot of positive signals that girls put out, so having some "translators" was really helpful. >
  
  my male friends did this for me with men, they saw all the red flags. >
  
  One time, it was just a bracelet. 
  My girl friend: "She's got a sugar daddy"
  Me: "What makes you say that?"
  Friend: "No girl buys jewelry like that for herself."
  Me: "Maybe a gift from family?"
  Friend: "When's the last time you bought your sister a $400 silver Tiffany bracelet with a heart and arrow on it?"
  Me: "Maybe it was from a previous relationship?"
  Friend: "That bracelet came out this season, dude. That's a romantic gift, and she didn't say no. What's her name?" (Searches Instagram and shows me the pictures of her with a guy posted two days ago). "Best case scenario, you're a just a re-bound and you deserve better than that." >
  
  wtf is this sherlock level shit 😭 >
  
  Hey man, I've seen reddit guys locate the model of a gritty old walkytalkie wrapped in weird fibres down to the model, production company and circulation through the years.
  Don't underestimate weird nerds all over the world. >
  
  r/gunners figured out a possible new signing was in London based on a very average cloud formation through a small section of the car window in the background of the player's selfie. >
  
  Guess I can’t have friends being bisexual. Epic. >
  
  I'm sorry, it's illegal for you to have friends. Hand them over, now. >
  
  Can we at least get a refund? Maybe some monetary compensation? >
  
  I have some leftover Rangoon. Sorry, it’s the best I can do. >
  
  I'll take what I can get, I guess. >
  
  That’s the spirit! >
  
  I don’t think it’s a red flag at all but I think your completely within reason to let him know it makes you uncomfortable and for you two to take steps or compromise so your comfortable with their friendship. He shouldn’t have to stop being friends though. I know you said it’s not a trust thing but if this is something you guys can’t talk through then it really does seem like a trust issue. >
  
  She's 56, it's more of a generational culture thing >
  
  I’m 54 and I think this opinion is total bullshit. I’d be fine if the man I decided to marry had a woman best friend, because I wouldn’t have decided to marry him if I didn’t trust him. Also presumably I’d meet this best friend, and chances are great that if the man I loved thought she was best-friend material, I’d like her, too. 
  If you don’t trust your fiancé/fiancée, don’t get married. Full stop. >
  
  I just came here to say im free if u want to get married again😆 >
  
  First I must meet the Best Friend. ;) >
  
  Ha deciding if you can stand the best friend is a different issue to whether or not they exist and have a different gender. >
  
  Yeah, but also I want to know what the best friend thinks of him.  Ha! >
  
  I have women who I’ve known for the last 15 years of my life. I’m not gonna stop considering them some of my closest friends just cause I start dating someone. Sure. Maybe at one point when I was god damn teenager I thought of them in a slightly sexual way. But it’s been a long time since I was a teen. They’re just the homies at this point. And anyone who has a problem with that is someone I don’t want a relationship with in the first place. >
  
  This exactly. I made sure from day 0 that my partner knew that my best friend was part of the package and if he had a problem with that, then we didn't have anything left to discuss. He was and remains cool with it. Why wouldn't he be? My best friend is no threat to him. >
  
  Yup exactly. I’d honestly find it way more of red flag when someone thinks men and women can’t just be friends. Says a lot about how they view the opposite sex. >
  
  God forbid your bisexual and you're not allowed to have any friends then >
  
  Don't blame it on your age, I'm 54 and I don't see any problem with it in a healthy, trustful relationship. >
  
  I mean there’s definitely a generational cultural divide. This type of thing definitely was less common even a couple decades ago. Now, it’s much more accepted in society. Cut OP some slack bro >
  
  I love my best friend, they are the opposite sex. I would never consider dating them, but I love them in the most platonic sense. >
  
  Exactly!
  I can honestly say that I love all my close friends. Some are girls, some are guys. It's not sexual. It's like they are family >
  
  I think it depends. If the friend is respectful of the relationship, doesn’t cross any reasonable boundaries, and there isn’t any romantic or sexual history between the two then I don’t think that there’s any problems. >
  
  Cant have friends? Easy bullet dodged. >
  
  Just sleep with all your friends then it's equal >
  
  I would have no issues whatever the gender of my husbands best friend. And he wouldn't have with me either. I'm bi so would have a severely limited choice of best friends if that was the case! 
  So yeah, unpopular opinion, take my upvote. >
  
  Right?! I'm a lesbian, so I can't be friends with any girls I went to my single-gender school with? My partner is bi, so is she not supposed to have any friends? Bit archaic to not consider non hetero people and relationships. >
  
  OP is super Christian, she doesn't even put LGBT groups into her calculations. >
  
  "that isn’t because we don’t trust each other, but rather because we respect each other."
  If you trust your partner, it is disrespectful to them for you to expect them to cut ties with their best friend simply because of that best friend's gender.  The fact that you see it as a "red flag" points to a lack of trust. >
  
  So much this. That last line upset me so much. Especially since I'm bi, this kind of thinking would really be problematic for me. Probably my two best friends in the world are a gay man and a straight woman, both of which would be very off limits in such a ridiculous relationship paradigm. >
  
  It's such an asinine take - and clearly points to OP being in denial of their lack of trust in their partner.  And their various arguments in the comments here are moronic as well - they say things like "shouldn’t your partner be your BEST friend?" which basically implies that if two straight guys are best friends then they should get married to each other.  But they can't even understand the fact that people generally use the term "friend" to distinguish a person from their partner / spouse in applicable contexts, so I guess we really can't expect much of anything reasonable from them. >
  
  
  shouldn’t your partner be your BEST friend
  
  Which is a bullshit argument from them because it clearly wasn't what they were saying. I think that's them trying damage control. They were saying it's wrong if your best friend is the opposite sex, implying it's fine if it's the same sex. Which isn't saying your best friend should be your partner. >
  
  Finally a true, somewhat reasonable unpopular opinion. It's not very often I get to say it, but I completely disagree.
  With that said, have an upvote! >
  
  If it was unpopular in isolation then sure, it fits well here. But it’s her rationale for why she has that opinion that is the problem. 
  “It isn’t because we don’t trust each other, but because we respect each other” is just a fancy way of saying you don’t trust each other at all. >
  
  "I respect you, hence you cannot have female friends, cut contract wirh them and never be alone with another woman" op, probably >
  
  More like 'I say I respect you, so what that means is that you owe me your respect. And what that means is that you do whatever the hell I say or want'. >
  
  Damn I'm bi so I guess no friends for me. >
  
  OP really forgot not everyone is straight which is exactly why her logic is flawed. >
  
  I'm 55 and have been married to my wife for over 14 years, together for longer. I also have a best friend who is a woman and who I've known since I was 15. My wife really likes her as well and is also friends with her. I know another half dozen women very well who I've been friends with for over 35 years. You have trust issues. >
  
  Agreed! I hope I get to have some of my friends for 40 years🥲 >
  
  You say this is a sign of your age but I’d expect a jealous 20 year old to have this opinion >
  
  Oh they do, I would know as I had to stop being friends with a guy over a year ago because his girlfriend was insecure and felt the need to keep tabs on every woman in his life and made him unfollow my socials because I blocked her as she was making me uncomfortable. >
  
  I felt this so hard. Doesn’t help that it’s a climbing trend now on the internet to push this narrative so women get more vicious if they hear their boyfriend has a female friend. >
  
  My best friend fucked my wife. I don't have best friends or that wife anymore. >
  
  New post tomorrow.
  Married guys shouldn't have male best friends. >
  
  Seems prudent. You never know when you're going to get bi-curious... >
  
  So because my fiancé and I have friends of the opposite sex we don’t respect one another? Post reeks of Self esteem issues. >
  
  Beyond just aging themselves, the language being used basically ignores homosexual couples or non-binary genders or Asexual but romantic partners. 
  It's not just self esteem issues, the post reeks of a fully heteronormative upbringing that's probably sheltered within a religious community.
  Like if her husband was a closeted bisexual, and he and his best male friend went away on fishing trips that were actually the two of them having sexual relations, I doubt OP would be totally cool and comfortable with that but she's completely blind to it because she's so hyper-focused on being the only woman in his life. >
  
  
  homosexual
  
  It's just a phase
  
  non-binary
  
  "Science!"
  
  Asexual
  
  Just haven't met the right one
  /s >
  
  >Bisexual
  Just have threesomes!  
  Can't forget that one >
  
  It does look like this is in fact an unpopular opinion >
  
  I dunno its pretty popular amongst the average insecure person. >
  
  Yep! Only insecure people make this a hill to die on >
  
  & people who gaslight about cheating. 
  "Omg babe he's just a frienddd. Ughhh, guys r so insecure/controlling. I'm hanging out with my friends and I'm not answering my phone" 
  "Okay yeah I was cheating. But it's your fault"
  Some people are just full of shit. Like, you can't tell me those lies when I've been the person that's "just" a friend. >
  
  There's a lot of clueless folks in here acting like this isn't something that regularly happens.  I'd chalk a lot of that up to youth and inexperience.  I've been that "friend" as well and guess how it turned out?  lol we hooked up and she dumped the other guy and we started dating.  it's a very common fucking thing. 
  It doesn't necessarily mean OP is correct in this take, because cheaters are going to cheat one way or another so it's kind of pointless to try to prevent it by limiting who they can socialize with, but this is how shit goes down extremely often.  you're not going to cheat on your spouse with just some random person you meet in a bar as often as you might somebody you interact with and spend time with on a regular basis in close proximity, especially if you have other non-physical bonds to them.   
  it's also hilarious that everybody on reddit will talk in one thread like they're the most well-adjusted stable person in the world, and yet the rest of reddit is just filled with stories about awful relationships and terrible mental health issues and basically the exact opposite of what everyone pretends to be when they're lecturing everyone else on how they should be in better relationships and get their lives in order. >
  
  It’s really a case by case basis but if you don’t trust your partner there’s just no relationship. If you truly believe your husband can’t be alone with another woman then why be with him? >
  
  I'd say it's a red flag if your partner is incapable of accepting that you have another friend of your preferred gender, trying to separate you from your external support network is a textbook sign of abuse after all >
  
  Biz Markie (R.I.P.) told us this back in the day. >
  
  By your logic I couldn't have any friends if I'm in a relationship since I'm attracted to both genders. Your views of friendship and relationships are pretty outdated and toxic. >
  
  What’s the bet that OP wouldn’t make an exception for Aro best friends either? >
  
  Ya.. say what you want, but that's not respect.
  That's definitely a lack of trust in either yourselves or each other.
  It's an old way of thinking and doing things, it's also idiotic. >
  
  Facts >
  
  That's an interesting way of saying you don't trust your husband...
  I feel pretty sorry for him, actually >
  
  Yeah if there was trust, she wouldn’t care if he had a woman as a friend. Also sounds like she has some internalized misogyny if she thinks women should be competing for a man’s attention. >
  
  It would be a red flag if my partner said that to me. It isn't disrespectful at all >
  
  You say it's not about insecurity but it has to be. EIther you're able to handle yourself alone with your friends or the concept of betraying your partner wouldn't even cross your mind as a possibility, and likewise either you trust your partner or you wouldn't consider the likelihood that they'd betray you. 
  This isn't all that unpopular (unfortunately) but it is a juvenile/archaic belief that seems to be diminishing. >
  
  "that isn’t because we don’t trust each other"
  Riiiiiight. >
  
  my best friend is a woman... Her husband is also one of my best friends... I can call either to go out for a drink or to talk at any time... Me and her have been friends since highschool.   I was in their wedding as a groomsman. They're like family >
  
  it's not a red flag. can we please stop making the pettiest of things red flags >
  
  This is a RED FLAG as one partner is controlling who the other partner can have as friends. this is very much a domestic abuse situation. >
  
  Reason number 6 why people don't take these phrases such as domestic abuse as seriously as we should. Most of us agree this opinion is insecure, but don't downplay domestic violence like this. Having a preference isn't domestic violence. >
  
  It’s ultimately your partner trying to cut you off from your emotional support due to their own insecurities. I don’t think that this scenario alone would be domestic abuse, but it certainly sounds like it could easily head into that territory. >
  
  It certainly could, but as I saw from the original post, she said she wouldn't have even dated her husband if he had a woman best friend. If that is known from the get go wouldn't that be a preference, not domestic abuse?
  I agree it's insecure. But I think saying you wouldn't date someone with an opposite gendered best friend is domestic abuse, but a preference. 
  On the flip side, if you're already in a relationship and start doing that afterwards, that is controlling. >
  
  Being bisexual this is why society has locked me in a tower because I can't help but attempt to have sex with any person above the age of 18 at any time. They let me out one hour a day, but I can work remote and the running the stairs on the tower is great cardio. >
  
  Having the capacity to maintain a plutonic relationship is akin to those who have faith and/or believe in god. You’re either capable of doing so or not - just because you can’t, doesn’t mean others can.
  Let people be who they want to be with whom they want too. >
  
  For real if someone I was dating took issue with my relationship with my best friend I know which one I would be ditching. Spoiler: It's not the friend. >
  
  It's certainly understandable but to me it's a bigger red flag when someone needs their partner to close off a larger part of a wide world out of insecurity.
  Disliking socializing alone with the opposite sex - without prior notice or approval from your SO - is perfectly respectable. 
  However, if my SO hasn't the trust in me to be loyal and isn't willing to build that trust under any circumstance then the relationship isn't for me.  Being perpetually frightened by the exploits of a fiction in one's head is so unattractive, I'd even call it repellant.
  I've had a few offers in my younger years to be a rebound/comfort hookup, and even a cheat for people I've met through friends.  I'm no longer friends with the person who wanted to cheat with me.
  It's absolutely not in me to get between people when I know at least one of the two considers themselves a pair, nor intentionally betray the expectations of my loved ones. >
  
  Everything according to Reddit is a red flag. >
  
  Absolutely and I’m surprised this is even unpopular >
  
  I have a ton of female friends. If a women said this to me, it shows they are insecure. Bye.
  Never gotten with any of my female friends, never tried to. They're attractive but we've just been friends for a long time, usually I met them when they were in relationships and then just being friends with them for so long and being there for them through their break-ups, especially when I'm also super close with their boyfriends/exes... just fucking weird. They're like sisters to me. 
  I also do fairly well with women so it's like, why would I get with them when I can get with anyone else lol. It's the women I'm not friends with you'd have to worry about. Plus my girlfriends have always helped me get laid, they make you look good to other women too so like why would I fuck that up. And on top of that, they're just awesome people that I value having friendships with and have been incredibly supportive of me through some crazy shit. >
  
  I would see this as disrespect and would bring this up, it’s so hard too when jealously and insecurity is thrown around so loosely and seen as such a vice >
  
  If you can't trust your partner to have a friend of the opposite sex, then there is definitely some underlying issues at play.. >
  
  How would having a best friend of the opposite sex be disrespecting. Are you not able to control your own behavior or thoughts? 
  Stupidest line ever. 
  
  that isn’t because we don’t trust each other, but rather because we respect each other.
  
  Respecting someone is not doing something that will break their trust. 
  So don't do anything? Seems simple enough, if you are unable to be in a friendship without behaving in a way that is disrespectful than you are the problem, but if you can than that isn't disrespectful. >
  
  I think hers is a very traditional religious viewpoint. I don't know if it's so much a lack of trust as it is a desire to give off the right appearance to their circle of church friends. Kind of like "Can you imagine what people would say if they saw my husband {insert any innocent activity} with another woman? It would be a huge scandal!" My mom is like this. My wife and I aren't religious and have thrown this mentality away. >
  
  Honestly I can understand being uncomfortable with opposite sex best friends because I'm currently dating a guy who was 'just a friend' for 2 years. I think it's different when you're just dating but I think calling someone of the opposite sex your 'best friend' if you're in a heterosexual marriage would be really weird. It gets a bit more complicated if we're talking about, say, bisexual people. So it's a case by case thing but I do agree that opposite sex 'best friends' is a delicate situation >
  
  Same goes for homosexual relationships. I’d definitely be anxious about my partner being friends with other gay men, unless their relationship predates ours. >
  
  Friends? No. That’s crazy. Many gay men retain large networks or friends who are all gay men. You can’t expect most gay men to have no gay community outside their partner. That’s nuts.
  But “best friends”? Yeah…that would make me nervous. >
  
  What if best friend is a lesbian? >
  
  I really would love to hear OP’s thoughts on this as not everyone is straight. However I remember hearing a story where this woman’s boyfriend tried to insist that one of her guy friends who’s gay is just pretending to get into her pants. >
  
  I’m a lesbian and my best friend is a gay man 🤨 >
  
  I don't feel like I could be in a serious relationship with someone who wants me to cut ties with any of my friends, regardless of their gender >
  
  Same. It’d come off like they’re trying to isolate me due to their own insecurities and set me up for abuse or something. >
  
  Reeks of psych abuse. Been there, never doing it again. >
  
  This is definitely not something I would agree with, especially considering two of my (41F) best friends are men. One has been for nearly 20 years. We've never kissed, we've never cuddled, we've never seen each other naked, we've never done anything but be bros. Luckily, this isn't something my partner has any problem with. To say it's "disrespect" is weird. Maybe you might benefit from actually having friends so you can see how those relationships are in reality instead of assigning them some kind of negative label based on...what exactly? >
  
  On one hand I want to say it sounds extremely insecure but, if we take it literally its also kind of hard for me to imagine having a best friend other than my partner. My gf is my best friend and I wouldn't have it any other way. 
  Not taken literally, yeah she can have as many close guy friends as she wants. >
  
  Jesus fuck that's an unpopular opinion for sure.
  That's a level of insecurity that's unfortunately all too common. >
  
  This is more disrespect towards your partner than it is respect in my eyes. Like let's say you went into a relationship and said their friend was a deal breaker, not considering gender here, it sounds alot dumber. Because it is the same thing. >
  
  Tell me you're insecure without telling me you're insecure... >
  
  People who believe girls and guys can never be best friends without anything else involved, are usually the ones who are bad at dating. Or simply never learn how to understand the opposite gender. >
  
  So with that logic, couples aren't allowed to have couple friends, dinners with friends must occur with one partner out of the dinner, and let's not even go into the headache of being invited to one... >
  
  I mean... but it is because you don't trust each other, to some degree, isn't it? You say you "respect" your partner, but why is that respect expressed as not having friends of their gender? Any reason for this ends up either sounding like it is the case that there is a lack of trust in faithfulness, or like some old timey "the wife is the husband's property and no other man should look upon her" and vice versa type bullshit. I simply can't comprehend why you would have broken up with your husband if he had any other female friends- it only makes sense if you subscribe to the view that no heterosexual man and woman who are not related can be close without wanting to fuck each other, which is simply objectively untrue. In a way it is a sign of your age- it's an outdated view on the world that isn't accurate and yet so many people cling to. >
  
  As someone in a happy gay relationship. Im gonna leave this take for the straight people to figure out. >
  
  I agree with OP. It's regularly that person they tell you "not to worry about" that they cheat on you with. Does it always happen? No. But it happens more than it should.
  Especially when it comes to a bunch of one on one time. If you're my gf and hanging out with a dude all the time that is going to make me uncomfortable. I'm sure my gf wouldn't feel great about me hanging out one on one with women either.
  You're allowed to feel uncomfortable with that. In fact most people are. Reddit isn't the real world >
  
  In what way is it disrespectful to have a best friend of the opposite gender? >
  
  The amount of people misconstruing OPs post to be dismissive of all friendships with the opposite sex is alarming. They’re strictly talking about “best friends”, and in 99% of “best friendships”, there is some underlying romantic feeling from at least one person whether youd like to admit it or not. Redditors live in a dream world and refuse to accept the fact that spending alone time with someone is how feelings develop and being proactive with your boundaries isnt insecurity, its being logical. This is why the majority of marriages end in divorce. Everyone calling you insecure for your boundaries are probably projecting and secretly have feelings for their best friend, or they’re an idiot who’s going to get cheated on >
  
  I feel like the popular interpretation of the term "best friend" in the comment section doesn't take the word "best" literally. That's something I disagree with. 
  What's the point of marrying someone if that person isn't going to be your best friend? Isn't your spouse supposed to be your most important person? Isn't that what the word best entails? On the other hand, what's the point of labeling a friend your "best friend" if you're not going to marry them? Are they really the "best" if you're not going to bond yourselves with romance and life partnership? >
  
  It's also a red flag if someone has zero friends of the opposite sex...would make me wonder what makes this man/woman repulsive enough to other women/men so as to not have any good friends of the opposite sex >
  
  Sounds like insecurities to me 🤷‍♂️ >
  
  Lmao just admit that you don't trust your husband, I feel sorry for the pair of you >
  
  I'm assuming bisexual people should just.... not have friends? >
  
  hermits on a mountain >
  
  What if both of you are bisexual >
  
  Are you sure you aren’t older than 56? >
  
  Half the people in this thread glossing over the word “best”. If your long-term partner isn’t also your best friend you’re with the wrong person >
  
  I half agree. It's not that I don't trust her, it's that I know exactly what's going on in her "Guy best friend" head. 
  Towards the end of the relationship we were talking on the phone and she said he showed up at her work with some Starbucks drink she likes. "I think he has a crush on me" she said.
  "Yeah, no shit" I thought. >
  
  Thank god my SO respects me enough to understand that I will not end my friendship with my best male friend of 25 years, just because they both happen to have a penis. >
  
  This is a post made by a straight person, for straight people. OP really needs to preface their post with that. >
  
  100 % right. How can people not agree?
  Note that OP says BEST FRIEND ffs. >
  
  Dress it up how you like but the only reason you wouldn't let your partner be alone with someone of the opposite sex let alone have a friendship with them is because you're worried they'll cheat. And that's kinda sad imo >
  
  Yeah anyone who holds this opinion is insecure for that exact reason, someone who 100% trusts their partner wouldn’t try to police whom they can and can’t be friends with. >
  
  Definitely a sign of your age. I have a female friend and I have zero sexual attraction to her. I mean none. Never have either. >
  
  I have never know a person to have a "best friend" of the opposite sex, who are both straight and attracted to the opposite sex, and have it work out positive for anyone in the end. Always some underlying thing that will come out eventually. 100% red flag. >
  
  I don’t 100% disagree but it’s definitely a case by case basis. My boyfriend has a girl best friend. I met them both around the same time through a different mutual friend and they’ve never given me weird vibes or like there was more than just a platonic friendship between the two of them. I got cool with both of them separately and my boyfriend and I began dating two years after that initial meet up. We can hang out as a group or they can hang out alone and I’m never concerned or worried that’s something is up. There is a mutual respect and boundaries between them that I think makes sense. I don’t see her as a threat and have my own friendship with her. I wouldn’t be OK with it if I didn’t know their dynamic beforehand or if anything weird had ever gone on with them. She doesn’t make things awkward. When we hang out it really just feels like a group of friends because at the end of the day that’s what we are since that’s how this all began. So I trust him and I trust her. Now, if my boyfriend suddenly became close friends with a girl after we dated then I would find that weird and probably wouldn’t be okay with it.
  But now that I’m on the subject- the dynamic of their relationship did change which I think is normal and happens with a lot of friendships including same sex ones when someone gets in a relationship. They used to communicate more often and go out to eat, shopping, clubs together but now that happens less or I end up joining lol but I’m okay when they do. It wasn’t something that was spoken about it kind of just happened. Another reason why I respect their relationship. If something was up she would definitely had made her jealousy known or be upset if he tells her no to plans >
  
  This will depend on each person. But more often than not, Ive seen guys and girls get burned with being too liberal with this. >
  
  OP your partner SHOULD be your best friend and the problem starts there if they are not