Can men and women be just friends??

Okay so the last few days I have been having some debates with various people and I'm going through this one out there and I want some serious HONEST feedback.
Can men and women really be JUST friends?
The reason I ask is because I believe they can.
I have many, MANY friends of the opposit sex. Great friends that are men. Now where my problem seems to lie is that people don't agree that we can hang out and spend time together and be just friends. They say that that's more like dating. Now isn't this a double standard? Why is it I can hang out with my girlfriend(s) go for dinner or drinks or shopping or whatever, yet I can't do the same things with a guy friend? Somebody please explain this logic to me? Am I allowed to have friends that are guys, but not allowed to talk to them on the phone, or see them once a week for dinner or hang out with them at their place, or go to a movie, or the mall? Am I allowed to be "friends" with them as long as I never see them? Cause that's not how a friendship works in my eyes. My friends are important to be regardless of their sex and I love each and every one of them the same, so tell me why I should have to treat them any different??