My counseling program tried to train everybody, even the married straight people, to say "partner," which, like, I get the impetus behind that, and sure, keeps 'em guessing... but I always felt it was disingenuous.

Similarly, my family apparently thought I was dating ellen_fremedon for all the years we lived together, and I was just calling her my "roommate." Aside from how Ellen is Not Into Girls Like That, and how she and I would be a hot romantic disaster even if she were...! I was also just like, seriously, family, do you think that I would use a polite euphemism like "roommate" in the Year of Your Lord Two Thousand Whatever?

... anyway, not sure what my point is, other than "partner" used like my program used it also feels like a polite euphemism, if what one wants to say is "my wife, that I married, because we can finally do that now. In some places."