Partners and straight people
Travelling back home from England to the Netherlands the other day, I overheard this conversation between this Dutch man and woman who had just met. The woman was telling the guy she had just been on a job interview.
The guy asked why she would apply for a job in the UK, and she told him it was because of her partner who lived in England. The guy then continued to ask her about her partner phrasing it like “So is he or she English?”
The woman replied with “He or she? Well, my partner is a man, of course.” To which the man replied, “Well, that isn’t always that obvious, and I did not want to presume.” The woman then laughed nervously and agreed that you can never tell, and sometimes these things are not obvious.
I really liked this exchange. Especially where the guy was coming from. Here was this typical boring stuffy straight guy, who thought it was the most normal thing to not assume someone was straight.
And it was not just because she used the word partner. In the Netherlands, it has become more and more common to refer to your boyfriend or girlfriend as your partner, even among straight people.
That is because so many people do not get married anymore, and if you want to let people know you are in a serious relationship, bf or gf does not really cut it, so a good alternative is the word partner.
I loved hearing this exchange, because living abroad for a while, I had forgotten how casual the Dutch generally are about homosexuality. Well, of course they aren’t always that great, and we have some homophobes too, but generally people do not really care.
With not caring I mean, it is all fine with them. As long as you do not make a big deal out of it, they won’t make a big deal out of it.
They might still not like it, but they’d keep it to themselves.
Well, unless they are a group of drunken testosterone filled straight morons, and they beat the crap out of you for walking hand in hand with your bf.
I am hoping for a gay-bash free pride in Amsterdam this year. C’mon, some used to call it the gay capital of the world *snicker* Let’s earn that title again.
The guy asked why she would apply for a job in the UK, and she told him it was because of her partner who lived in England. The guy then continued to ask her about her partner phrasing it like “So is he or she English?”
The woman replied with “He or she? Well, my partner is a man, of course.” To which the man replied, “Well, that isn’t always that obvious, and I did not want to presume.” The woman then laughed nervously and agreed that you can never tell, and sometimes these things are not obvious.
I really liked this exchange. Especially where the guy was coming from. Here was this typical boring stuffy straight guy, who thought it was the most normal thing to not assume someone was straight.
And it was not just because she used the word partner. In the Netherlands, it has become more and more common to refer to your boyfriend or girlfriend as your partner, even among straight people.
That is because so many people do not get married anymore, and if you want to let people know you are in a serious relationship, bf or gf does not really cut it, so a good alternative is the word partner.
I loved hearing this exchange, because living abroad for a while, I had forgotten how casual the Dutch generally are about homosexuality. Well, of course they aren’t always that great, and we have some homophobes too, but generally people do not really care.
With not caring I mean, it is all fine with them. As long as you do not make a big deal out of it, they won’t make a big deal out of it.
They might still not like it, but they’d keep it to themselves.
Well, unless they are a group of drunken testosterone filled straight morons, and they beat the crap out of you for walking hand in hand with your bf.
I am hoping for a gay-bash free pride in Amsterdam this year. C’mon, some used to call it the gay capital of the world *snicker* Let’s earn that title again.
Comments
I've been reading your blog for quite some time now and I like it. It makes a pretty interesting read and is a nice source of entertainment news. Keep up the good work.
Cheers! ^_^
Growing up in a more progressive part of the world, you do not realize how lucky you are I guess.