> Are the arbiters of political correctness really so small-minded that
> they can't find anything more liberatory than secrecy about the most
> basic facts of one's life?
Here's an invitation I might send via mass e-mail: "We're having a Christmas Open House and would like all of you and your partners to attend!"
Now, give me a term to replace the deficient "partners" which includes the following groups: spouses of both genders, boyfriends and girlfriends, same-sex partnerships, and multiple-partner families of various mixes of genders, since I have friends who are in all these different kinds of relationships and I want them all to feel invited.
Personally, I'll be sticking with "partner". In my circles, it's inclusive and welcoming; we're all out of the closet together.
-- "The more I practice, the luckier I get." -- Ben Hogan