My present friends appreciate me for who I am. We agree to disagree and we respect each others' opinions. We stay in contact by phone even though we are busy and we MAKE time to get together. I've learned that a true friend will have your back, but also will be honest with you. I like that.
I had many Witness friends, but those friendships were conditional. I never felt comfortable being the REAL me around them. Some were more "lenient" with their judgments, but I always felt "on guard" w/what I said or did for the most part. Then I got to the stage where I didn't care anymore - that tends to weed biased people out. There are those whom I still feel a bond with because of what we went through together and they are just good people.
I believe there are good and bad people in the organization and out. One has to choose their friends carefully. I have many aquaintances, but few very good friends anymore.