Does Polyamory make it difficult to make friends?

This is a question I have been trying to answer for several months now. After several failed attempts at friendship, I have determined the answer is, "yes."

I have always been blunt about who I am, what I believe, and what my intentions are with the people in my life. Recently, I have been trying to make friends with some people I met with similar beliefs, etc. Some of them are local, some of them are not, but it is proving quite difficult to become friends with other polys. I thought it would be nice to have people in my life with whom I can discuss the stresses and issues and emotions that are specific to the polyamorous lifestyle--people who would understand.

What do I think is the potential cause? Perhaps many of them do not have pure intentions when they make new friends, so find it hard to believe when I state as much--particularly since I am only currently involved in one relationship. Do all polys think I am looking for something more? Possibly. I typically do not have a hard time making friends, but it seems that when I meet another poly, the friendship never really develops. My life partner said that maybe I am so attractive that it is too distracting to be my friend. This is why he's my life partner. :)

Perhaps I come on too strong for them. I know that many of the polys I have met have a tendency toward mysterious that I do not share. Or maybe they just don't have time for new people in their lives, since they are in so many relationships in addition to the typical requirements of life as an adult.

How does it make me feel? Well, since polyamory implies that there is always the possibility that a relationship can evolve into more than a friendship over time, I fear that I am not attractive enough to entertain the possibility of a potential relationship in the future. I.E. if they are not attracted to me now or have no intentions of pursuing me romantically in the future, then there is no point in a friendship. I think this point of view makes me the most sad of all. A lot of really good friendships are being thrown away, or worse never started at all, because of sexual attraction. I think I am going to stop telling people about my orientation for a while and see what happens. I fear it will be hard to keep quiet since one of the first things that polys do is ask you if you are polyamorous, and I refuse to lie.

Whatever the cause, I am fortunate enough to have many friends who love me (not in that way) for who I am, and I plan on being friends with them for many, many years to come. Who needs new friends anyway?

I do... :(