However, he still refers to himself as straight, which I find frustrating and invalidating
- Post
“I'm frustrated that my partner calls himself “straight”
Q: “My partner and I have been together for three years, and for the most part things are good. When we met, I was going by she/her pronouns, but about two years ago I came out as non-binary and started to use they/them. My partner – who is a cis man – has been supportive. He had a little trouble with my pronouns at first, but he's adjusted and makes sure to gently correct others if they misgender me. He's learned to never refer to me as a woman, and to call me his partner instead of girlfriend, so I feel like I should just be grateful. It's like he doesn't really understand who I am or is ignoring significant parts of my identity. Should I just be glad that he's generally supportive and try to get over it? Or is this erasure and something he needs to change?”
When we ask someone, “what is your sexual orientation?” we often hear back “gay,” “straight,” “bisexual,” or something that describes only one facet of attraction: how my gender compares to the gender of the people I fuck.