How to discuss homosexuality with a semi-homophobic friend?

Hi all,

I started university this September and have made some really lovely friends. However, because I am studying in London, a lot of my friends are from many different countries, some of which have a less liberal stance on homosexuality.

The problem is, two of my friends are Romanian and neither of them know yet that I am a lesbian. They don't make explicitly homophobic comments, but there's a sense of disapproval whenever the topic comes up. I have looked at LGBT rights in Romania and discovered that homosexual acts were decriminalised in 2001, so the situation is improving.

I think that they both have potential to understand the much more liberal views in England - maybe I could convince them that homosexuality is fine here and that LGBT people are just normal. I don't really know how to do this without seeming overbearing and without shocking them into thinking that I'm just weird, thus making the situation worse. The main problem with their understanding is their lack of it - I simply think that they haven't been exposed to gay people enough to see that there's nothing weird or wrong about it.

Any advice on how to go about attempting to improve their views?

Thanks,

Islander