People are pissing me off?

ok so some background:

I'm male 17 years old and my best friend is 16 and he's gay. We've been best buddies since 3rd grade and he came out this year and my opion didn't change about him one bit. Here's what's going on though I've been a devout catholic my whole life, I've gone to church every Sunday, pray every now and then and all the hooblah. Now my friend on the other hand has been atheist his whole life. Neither of us have been bothered by each other's beliefs. However since he came out, our families and some other "friends" have told us that our friendship can't workout just because the church does not support gay marriage. I've never really been for or against gay marriage, so I don't care if my friend gets married or not. But I'm pissed off that people say that we can't be friends, he's been there for me in tough times, when I broke my arm when I was 10 he called me everyday to make sure that I was ok. When he came out of the closet I was there for him because I know some of the horrible things that people do and say to gay people. He's one of the greatest guys I know and we've never disliked each other. But now all of a sudden people claim "it won't work out", what should I do?