If you are the one doing most of the writing and drawing for the series and posting it to your account, then you should have some priority to what goes into your story. It's OK to take suggestions from friends or family but if it is something that you personally would not think is a good idea, it's OK to not use it.
As for your friend's sensitivity. I notice a lot of younger people don't know much about LGBTQ history so I am not surprised that she didn't know the term had negative connotations. It also doesn't help that someone put in in Heartstopper. Sometimes it is good to have conversations about these things, that is how you grow and learn as a person.
