Gay partner

[Lu]

In my ears, 'partner' always sounds too formal, too business-like. People in long-term relationships, possibly with children, but not married are very common in NL as well, but partner is rarely used. Some people continue call their SO 'vriend/vriendin' (boyfriend/girlfriend) but some just go ahead and say 'mijn man/vrouw' (my man/woman, but also meaning my husband/wife). This goes for gay as well as straight couples.

[andysun731]

“基友” is more often used in jokes. If you use gender-neutral terms, they will think you are straight by default. If you don't care about coming out of the closet, "男朋友" or "老公" may be right.

[tooironic]

Revisiting this thread, I feel that the conclusion is that 伴侶 can be used in formal contexts, and 我的那位 or 我的另一半 in informal ones. And 基友 as a joke. Though that term seems to be used more among straight guys nowadays. And 對象 should be avoided as it sounds... old-fashioned, I suppose. Also, not sure if it used in Taiwan. Plus it can cause confusion - I once said 我的對象 to a mother of a Chinese friend of mine and she automatically thought I was married.