{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "\u201cSpouse\u201d?\u00a0\u201cPartner\u201d?\u00a0\u201cFirst Gentleman\u201d? Hey, headline writers, did you know that if a dude marries another dude and one of them...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/636114225029398528/", "html": "

argumate:

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garmbreak1:

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argumate:

the-grey-tribe:

squareallworthy:

\u201cSpouse\u201d?\u00a0\u201cPartner\u201d?\u00a0\u201cFirst Gentleman\u201d?

Hey, headline writers, did you know that if a dude marries another dude and one of them is newsworthy because he\u2019s a governor, you can just refer to the second dude as the governor\u2019s \u201chusband\u201d? Just as you would if the governor were a woman married to a man? That\u2019s totally a legit use of the word!

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The problem is obviously the thin line between saying something weird like\u00a0\u201cColorado Governor And\u00a0Gay Husband Have Covid\u201c and something that makes the causal reader form other places think the governor is a woman like \u201cGovernor And Husband Have Covid\u201c.

You can go with the overly explicit and say \u201cMale Governor and Husband Have Covid\u201c, but at least it sounds just very weird but it doesn\u2019t sound potentially disparaging in the way a \u201cGay Has Covid\u201c sounds. And the male/gay part is not news. The coronavirus is the news.

\u201cPartner\u201d sounds kind of like they are not married, but very likely gay. \u201cSpouse\u201c sounds like they are maybe not gay, but definitely married. \u201cFirst gentleman\u201c covers all bases but is clunky. \u201cGovernor and husband\u201c as discussed, might lead some people to think the governor is a woman.

(In my own country/language, referring to the equivalent of your \u201cpartner\u201c as a straight person has the implicature that you\u2019re a hippie who is opposed to the church/state/institution of marriage on principle, but you\u2019re boring and monogamous in practice, and probably raise 2.3 children)

Clearly, \u201cColorado Governor and Gay Husband Have Covid\u201c is preferable to \u201cGay Colorado Governor And Husband Have Covid\u201c, but \u201cColorado Governor Jared Polis, his Husband Have Covid\u201c implies the same, and it also normalises gay marriage better.

At this point I looked up the Fox News headline (no mention of the partner in the headline) and Jared Polis on Wikipedia, and I found the missing puzzle piece. The Governor and his live-in boyfriend who raise two children together are technically not married.

So anyway, this post would have gotten a lot more notes if it was an impassioned defence of \u201cGovernor And His First Lady (male) Have Covid\u201c.

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I would have hoped that the clunkiness of saying \u201cfirst gentleman\u201d would clue people in to the stupidity of saying\u00a0\u201cfirst lady\u201d, but no.

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i remember when Sarah Palin was running for VP and people kept suggesting calling her husband the First Dude

yes

FIRST Dude.

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real question is who will be the last dude

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by being least married to the Governor I will become\u2026

Ultimate Dude

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