I have 2 best friends, beside my boyfriend ( i consider him my best friend-lover). The one I knew for 15 years is a guy, and we never felt "that way" about each other. We always were good friends. He's a rather odd character even by this board's standards and has the biggest collection of Transformers I have ever seen. He even made me an honorary guy, so that is cool. He met the woman who became his wife and I became good friends with her, too, since she is very much like him and a real person. We've all stayed great friends and they're easy to be with. They just moved, so I'm sad--- but I'll be visiting them in a couple of months so it's ok.
I've met other people who say they're my friend, but they either end up not being my friend or just acting like it. I think most people would be called acquaintences or coworkers.