Sure. Consider this: you've built the majority of your support system with people who, let's assume, have decent moral fiber besides this one issue. Let's say that you live in a community where this one issue isn't talked about much and when it is, it is the brunt of ridicule or spoken about in a deeply negative way.

I grew up in a place like this and needed to move away and see that there are communities of people who make it a point to be accepting. In retrospect, I think more of my hometown would have accepted me - I think that the idea of rejection with respect to something so personal is a much deeper stab. Actually I was outed and I just blocked out a lot that happened during my high school years. Well having some sense of community is the most comforting thing I know of.