SIGNIFICANT OTHER: Increasingly Significant Issue

[Steve Kl.]

On Thu, 11 Apr 2002, Lynne Murphy wrote:

> In the UK, 'partner' is the term of choice regardless of sexual
> orientation.  It's used without blinking all the time.

I, like most of my queer, coupled friends, use partner (as in my response
to telemarketers "There is no Mrs. Dubuque; this is Peter's partner." Then
they stammer, except recently one person went "Is this a business?")

Actually, in this day in age, I'm astounded by the number of telemarketers
who ask for Mrs. Dubuque. It seems so presumptuous on so many levels, not
just queer/straight ones. Haven't these people ever dealt with widowers,
for example? It seems like such an easy way to get off on the wrong foot.

-- Steve