Possible hot take: it makes my skin crawl when someone refers to their significant other as their partner.
Discussion
I don't like it either, especially when straight couples do it. Also if you are so 'proud' of being gay, why not just use boyfriend or girlfriend 🤷
💯
I used to say it when I was working a job that required me to use heavy opsec and privacy due to the nature of it. It felt dehumanizing and slowly made me feel like I was losing my humanity by doing so.
I left that job and focused on loving the girlfriend I had at that time. Time passed we went our separate ways, but I kept to myself to always say my significant other or my better half.