I like to use partner even though I’m in a hetero relationship just cuz it sounds better.
Also just to normalize it.
Calling my fiance my partner makes me feel like we are a pair of ranch hands in the wild west, instead of two introverted weebs :3
I use it in a heterosexual relationship because it sounds weird to call my partner of 20 years my girlfriend when we are both 40. We just aren’t married, so if I said wife people would question why I don’t wear a ring.
Though if people thought I was gay, who gives a fuck? It’s current year after all.
I’m not gay, but I’ve been saying my partner for years. Saying girlfriend felt like it diminished the seriousness of the relationship. We’ve been together 15 years. She is my soul-bond.
I couldn’t say wife because we only got married the other day. Partner feels like it implies a more serious connection than girlfriend, at least to me
I usually introduce the guy I’m working with as my partner. It bothered him at first because he’s like you make us sound gay. Then he realized that wasn’t a bad thing.