Gengulphus wrote:I'd suggest that the sensible solution to this depends a bit on the context. When that context doesn't refer to a particular person or type of relationship (as in this reply), "partner" is pretty good for avoiding making assumptions about the person's sex or what type of relationship they're in.
About three weeks ago, I got a call to say that "Nick's father" Brian had sadly died after a short illness. Okay, that was a nasty shock, but what puzzled me was that the voice on the phone was male, and that he said he was Nick's partner. That's funny, I thought, I never knew Brian had a son, or that he was gay?
Later on, it took my wife's lateral thinking to realise that Nick was in fact Brian's daughter Nicola, who we'd vaguely met once, many years ago, and that he didn't in fact have a son at all. These days, of course, he could have said he was Nick's husband, which would have been just as confusing. And yes, I know I have to 'get with the program' and upgrade my assumptions about the heterosexuality of marriage, but when you're dealing with the momentary shock of a death your mind isn't necessarily focused on every potential permutation of the words.
It could have been worse, of course. They could both have been called Leslie or Ashley or Alex, or even Jack or Jordan or Taylor apparently, and I'd have had no idea whether either (or both) of them were male, or female, or maybe a bit of each. When did it all get so confusing? I need a lie down.
BJ
