Hetero people who don't believe in marriage and/or don't like husband/wife titles sometimes use titles like partner too because girlfriend/boyfriend doesn't sound serious enough I guess. Common amongst my social circle but I get why it's usually a dog whistle.

You know what's funny about that? A lot of my hetero friends also say partner.

I started using it because it removes the baggage that gendered terms carry. My wife is my best friend. I like to do everything with her. We split chores pretty evenly.

Online, at least, I've probably heard more hetero people than gay people use "partner." In some cases they were in fact perfectly conventionally full-blown married, they just weren't interested in sharing any more details than they had to to tell whatever story they were telling, because that detail wasn't important for the story.

I know many (myself included) who are in heterosexual relationships and say partner due to not being married. It's a pretty common thing.....

This is a you issue

New account troll. Tagged, will not engage with further.

Dude municipal compost is fucking amazing.

Trash doesn't smell anymore.

I promise you it's not that. It's the way that individual wrote their comment. Like it was offensive to be considered gay. Why does it matter?

And you keep trying to tie it to a region. I think the only "regional" distinction you can make is rural vs anywhere else. But that's more population density related not regional. It's not really a pop vs soda situation.

Maybe you and this other person should reconsider your assumptions about the usage of the word "partner" hahahaha.