"How is that at all different from a friendship between a man and a woman? A man can develop feelings for a woman he is friends with as easily as a woman can for a man. Their friendship would equally be at risk," Melchior counters.

"Besides that, if enough feelings developed then the friendship would already have changed from something simple to something more complex. The next step would be to weigh the friendship against the possibility of a relationship. If the desire for a relationship outweighs friendship, then it would be worth the risk, would it not?"