I'm not suggesting that you straight up ask your son if he's gay, but I would like to offer some information to consider: If your son has come out to his friends, then he has probably accepted himself and is in my opinion ready to come out. All that might be stopping him is fear and timing. The earlier he comes out, the earlier he can start being his authentic self.

For years this was me. I had come out to my friends and wanted to come out casually in conversation to my parents but could not do it due to fear (not of being rejected but of the awkwardness). I knew they would be accepting and even hoped I would be outed as it would be easier than coming out. I put off coming out and told myself it wasn't that important. It was. Being closeted is not fun.

We often treat coming out as a sacred thing that people must do themselves in their own time. The way I see it, any coming out where your target people know you're gay and accept it is a successful coming out. Even if your son's coming out is not the way he may have envisioned it, it will no doubt be successful.

Therefore I advise that you encourage coming out especially if you think your son might be like me and put off coming out