News article: "My partner is 34 years my senior — so what?"
Washington Blade, January 24 2014
Nothing ‘creepy’ about inter-generational couples
The way that some have reacted to British Olympic diver Tom Daley’s acknowledgement he is in a relationship with a man — rumored to be Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black who is two decades older — has certainly piqued this humble reporter’s interest.“Creepy,” “strange” and “way too old” are some of the myriad adjectives and phrases used to describe Daley and Black’s rumored relationship that I have read in the media and online. I don’t find my beloved partner who is 34 years older than I “way too old.” And I most certainly do not find the life we share “creepy” or “strange.”
Sheer coincidence brought us together for the first time. I met Andrés at a Northwest Washing-ton gay bar on July 8, 2010. It was the last night of a three-day trip to the nation’s capital to visit a good friend and his partner. I was extremely happy because my father had just called me from New Hampshire to tell me that I was to be-come an uncle for the first time. Andrés and I continued to chat as we left the bar and walked toward Logan Circle on that sultry July evening. I was momentarily surprised when he told me he was 62 — I was 28 at the time, but the age difference truly did not matter. I thought to myself as I returned home to Brooklyn, N.Y. — and my summer job as managing editor of the Fire Island News — the next morning that I had just met a genuinely nice man with whom I wanted to keep in touch. Andrés and I reunited a few weeks later when he came to New York to vis-it his family and I quickly realized there was something more to our friendship than our daily phone calls and lengthy streams of text messages.
We officially became a couple a few weeks later when he spent Labor Day weekend with me on Fire Island.A handful of people noted our age difference when we began dating or when they saw us together. These include an airline ticket agent at BWI who asked me whether I was Andrés’ son when we were trying to get onto another flight to travel to a friend’s wedding in New Hampshire. A person who is thankfully no longer a part of my life rather foolishly concluded that I had a “sugar daddy.” Andrés and I have done many of the same mundane and dare I say boring things that I assume most couples do since I moved in with him here in D.C. in October 2011. These include kvetching over the day’s news while drinking our morning coffee; making weekly grocery lists and deciding who is going to pick up the dry cleaning or put gas in the car. He also takes a keen interest in my work as a reporter for the Washington Blade and the front-row seat to LGBT history that my colleagues and I continue to enjoy.My nephew who turns 3 in March recently called Andrés to wish him happy birthday. And my parents routinely ask about him when we speak and send them their love.There is certainly nothing “creepy” or “strange” about the life we share as an inter-generational couple. Our friends, family and other loved ones who knew us as single for way too long agree. Andrés and I are comfortable enough with who we are as people and especially with our relationship not to worry about whether someone may have an issue with our age difference.
The same argument should certainly apply to Tom Daley and his rumored boyfriend.Those who concern themselves with the age difference of two adults who have made the decision to share their lives with each other almost certainly need to spend more time worrying about themselves and assessing their own issues, insecurities, fill in the blank. It is the very simple mantra of mind your own business as those of us from New Hampshire know all too well.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/201706969/Was ... ry-24-2014
My partner is 34 years my senior — so what?
Re: My partner is 34 years my senior — so what?
Well, what's creepy lies in the eyes of the beholder, it's naturally subjective. Plenty of straight people think that seeing two guys making out, never mind their age difference, is creepy. Plenty of gay friends of mine would say the same about being subjected to seeing pu$$y.
I have to admit that I've had to cringe on a couple of occasions myself, when I saw couples (gay or straight) with an age difference that I'd consider "extreme". Mostly when it's not just the age difference by itself that makes them stand out, but when there are contributing factors that make them look especially outrageous to me.
That's not all that important, however, because: I cannot really control that feeling, because it's just that, a feeling. What I can and do control, however, is that I don't act on that feeling in any negative way. It's simply none of my business, it's up to them what they do and whom they fall in love with. Maybe I'll even join their ranks eventually.
I have to admit that I've had to cringe on a couple of occasions myself, when I saw couples (gay or straight) with an age difference that I'd consider "extreme". Mostly when it's not just the age difference by itself that makes them stand out, but when there are contributing factors that make them look especially outrageous to me.
That's not all that important, however, because: I cannot really control that feeling, because it's just that, a feeling. What I can and do control, however, is that I don't act on that feeling in any negative way. It's simply none of my business, it's up to them what they do and whom they fall in love with. Maybe I'll even join their ranks eventually.
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windwalker
Re: My partner is 34 years my senior — so what?
What is extreme in an age difference? I know of couples with an age difference of 40 and 45 years between Thai and Farang.
Re: My partner is 34 years my senior — so what?
Yes, I know these couples as well, and I'd have a hard time to come up with an easy definition of "extreme age difference". I just see them and in some cases it feels extreme to me, sometimes in the aforementioned creepy way, and in others not so much. It's actually more a question of overall perceived compatibility than age alone.
Anyway, I'm not really obsessed with age, if only for selfish and personal reasons: I'm getting more relaxed about that whole age thingy (and many older farang in Thailand who have known me since fresh off the boat have predicted as much). Case in point, my very first Thai boyfriend was only 6 years my junior. It wasn't uncommon that he was older than the boyfriends of farang friends of mine who are almost 30 years my senior. My current boyfriend candidate (for lack of a better word) is a gigantic 15 years my junior, and that's still a bit extreme for me, but not really in a bad way.
Anyway, I'm not really obsessed with age, if only for selfish and personal reasons: I'm getting more relaxed about that whole age thingy (and many older farang in Thailand who have known me since fresh off the boat have predicted as much). Case in point, my very first Thai boyfriend was only 6 years my junior. It wasn't uncommon that he was older than the boyfriends of farang friends of mine who are almost 30 years my senior. My current boyfriend candidate (for lack of a better word) is a gigantic 15 years my junior, and that's still a bit extreme for me, but not really in a bad way.