Coming Out as Bisexual to My Best (Homophobic) Friend

Hello everyone. I've been lurking on this site for a while and now I need some personal advice. (This post is kind of long, I apologize.)

I'm out to everyone: family, strangers, friends, etc. Ever since I graduated high school (2 years ago) I've been very open about my sexuality and never afraid to tell someone I'm bisexual if they ask. However, I have been keeping it a secret from my best friend.

She and I met Freshman year of high school. We were pretty good friends all throughout high school and then, after we graduated, we sort of stopped talking for no particular reason. After our first semester of college, we started talking again and became really close friends. She goes to a very conservative, very Christian college about an hour away from me and I go to a very liberal college. We have made lots of efforts to visit each other as often as possible and have an awesome time together.

Within the past year, we started sharing our secrets and fears with each other. We text all the time and realized we're basically like sisters as well as best friends.

So, on to the tough part: she's homophobic. Her family is extremely so and is very unaccepting towards people who are not cisgender and heterosexual. On top of that, they're very racist. The usual.

She is somewhat that way. Whenever the topic of homosexuality comes up, she gets very uncomfortable and tries to change the subject quickly. If someone in a movie mentions the word "gay" she gets awkward. I once told her about a girl who had a crush on me (I didn't like her back), and she thought it was bizarre that a girl would like another girl. I'm also quite sure that she doesn't really know what bisexuality is.

It's also worth noting that she thought I was a lesbian in high school because I never told her about my crushes. I explained to her that that was because all the guys at our school were awful, which is true. She also thought I was dating my best female friend in high school -- which I wasn't --, and was really uncomfortable about that and has since made jokes about it.

She's not all bad, though. We once had a conversation about girls who had crushes on us (I've had many, seeing as how I've dated women before), and she was jokingly upset that no girl had ever had a crush on her.

Now, I want to come out to her because we've become quite close. I'm out to absolutely everyone else in my life, and I'm beyond being afraid or ashamed of my sexuality (that was high school me). I've embraced myself and my identity for a while now and I don't want to hide anymore. However, I'm nervous about losing my friendship with her.

Does anyone have advice on how I should go about coming out to her?

Thanks, also, for reading this long-ass post.

 

UPDATE: I told her last night when we were talking, as it just kind of popped up. She initially seemed uncomfortable and confused, but after we talked about it more, she seemed to be really okay with it. Nothing seems to have changed, and she told me "We'll always be best friends, no matter what." I'd say it was a success!

Thanks very much for the advice nuggetbiscuit!

I guess this thread can be moved from coming out advice now.