I completely agree Taylor Garland. It’s one of the reasons that word isn’t ideal. And I never liked the cutesy “spice” for spouse equivalent. I have two men in my life to whom I’ve made a life-long committment. One I live with (by vanilla standards, he’s my husband). The other lives far away at this point, but our committment and relationship are no less vital to my life. Frankly, I’m not sure which one is more difficult to give a proper term to. I’m open to suggestions….