None of us are perfect, and we can all do things to grow in our beliefs and mindsets, especially when we want to learn and grow with a partner.
But sometimes less-than-compatible mindsets don't reveal themselves until later in a relationship, as noted in the "Am I the A**hole?" (AITA) subReddit.
The Redditor, who has since deleted his account, was fed up with his girlfriend's homophobic comments about his best friend and roommate, who happened to be gay.
But when she started insinuating that his best friend wanted to make a move on him, the Original Poster (OP) decided he'd had enough of his girlfriend's judgmental views.
He asked the sub:
"AITA for telling my girlfriend she isn't welcome at my house anymore unless she seriously fixes her attitude regarding my best friend?"
The OP had a happy arrangement of living with his best friend, Mark.
"I (30 Male) live with my best buddy, Mark (30 Male)."
"We decided 2 years ago that we were sick of paying high rent costs and having s**tty roommates, so we pooled our money together to put a deposit down on a house."
"It's a good arrangement as we both have our own separate spaces, it's cheaper paying a mortgage, and we do everything jointly. We've also been best friends for 20+ years and enjoy living together."
"It's also important to note that I am straight and Mark is gay, but this has never bothered me and it doesn't impact how I see him."
The OP was unsettled when his girlfriend started making comments about his friendship.
"Mark is single after a breakup right now and I've been seeing Hannah (was seeing her?) for about a year."
"I told her right from the start about my living arrangements so in case she ever came to my house, she knew Mark lived there, too."
"It never seemed to be an issue until Mark and his boyfriend broke up and Hannah's attitude changed."
"She started making comments, saying she was uncomfortable with him around me and that he was 'making eyes' at me a lot."
"I told her she was being ridiculous, and so did Mark, and we both laughed at the idea of being into each other. We're complete opposites and are more like brothers, and it weirds us both out that Hannah is making comments."
The OP tried to discuss his concerns with Hannah but to no avail.
"I have told Hannah multiple times to stop as this is Mark's house, too, and I won't have him feeling s**tty."
"Hannah just keeps ramping it up, and her comments are getting worse, to the point she even said he wanted to make a move on me."
"I finally snapped. I told her that being gay doesn't automatically mean he wants to sleep with me, and I told her that her attitude is disgusting."
"She said she was joking, and I said it didn't feel like a joke."
"I told her, 'If you seriously can't change your attitude and treat Mark like a person, then you're not welcome here anymore. You're 30, act like it. Get out.'"
The OP couldn't help but wonder if he took it too far.
"Hannah has been calling me an AH for treating her like a child and some of her friends have messaged me saying I am being too harsh."
"I'm asking for judgment as I may be the AH for being too firm and not trying to talk to her about why she is speaking about Mark this way instead of downright refusing to let her be near him."
"I am not seeking relationship advice or validation on it. I am seeking judgment on refusing to let her come to my house."
"AITA?"
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You're the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some agreed with the OP that his girlfriend seriously needed to work on her views.
"The fact that OP isn't gay means that she is just being ridiculous and it is all in her head."
"The OP said, 'She said she was joking.' This is a very common defense from abusers. If she is joking then why does she keep on making all these comments and harassing OP?"
"The girlfriend needs to show much more respect to both of them."
"Solid NTA here, man." - NickNack878
"She's insecure and homophobic. Even if the BFF (Best Friend Forever) was into OP, it's up to OP to decide how to handle that. There are trust issues here that after a year of dating, shouldn't be." - PseudologiaFanatica
"I (a straight woman) find some of my male friends physically attractive, even though that is not the kind of relationship we have. It's normal and it doesn't mean anything."
"Even if Mark does find you good-looking if his feelings for you are platonic and/or brotherly, it's irrelevant. You can find someone physically attractive without being attracted to them sexually or romantically."
"I mean, as a straight woman, I can honestly say that there are some women in the world who I genuinely enjoy looking at and find their physical appearance 'attractive,' but I have no desire to f**k any of them."
"Also, even if I felt attracted to a friend, and they said they didn't feel the same way, I would respect their boundaries."
"Also this! I have been in the position of having romantic/sexual feelings toward a close friend who didn't feel the same way. I respected his feelings about it and made the choice to continue our friendship without hoping or pushing for his feelings to change."
"Over time, my non-platonic feelings for him waned and I started to see him more like a brother than anything else. When he started dating his now-wife, those feelings all but disappeared because I absolutely loved her and loved seeing them together. A few years later, I started dating my now-fiance."
"This friend has been a huge part of my life for over a decade now and I can't imagine life without him or with him in any other capacity than a friend. I'm so grateful that I learned how to respect boundaries and value different kinds of relationships for what they are before I met him, because if I didn't, I wouldn't have one of the best friends I've ever had." - SauronOMordor
"I'm a gay woman, happily married. I was at a friend's house one weekend (hockey tournament and a bunch of us were staying over). Another woman had made a turkey sandwich, and I commented that it looked great. She offered me a bite and I declined (I'm vegetarian)."
"She said, 'So it's like men. You can appreciate how they look, but that doesn't mean you want any.'"
"Turkey Sandwich has now entered our lexicon, straight or gay, male or female."
"NTA." - notawolfdog
"I think it's telling her friends are just telling you that you were 'a little too harsh.' If it really was out of the blue, they'd be tearing you a new one."
"My guess is, her friends are a bit tired of her insecure drama nonsense."
"NTA, and probably not the gal for you honestly." - DilbertedOttawa
Others confirmed the girlfriend definitely was not joking but trying to cover for herself.
"Once is a joke, but to do it repeatedly, especially after being asked to stop, pushes it out of 'it's a joke' territory and into gaslighting manipulation."
"OP is definitely NTA, and I'm glad he is dropping that girl like a bad habit." - Poverload237
"As a genuine joker in most social situations, I feel it deeply when my joke doesn't land or it's not the right crowd, etc., and if it doesn't get a laugh or a positive response, I RETIRE THE JOKE. I don't keep repeating it to the same people when it's clearly not a bit they're into."
"And if it turns out to have been hurtful, I immediately apologize and think about where I took things too far and how to avoid doing that again. If I wanna be the clown I wanna make sure everyone's enjoying it."
"But you're right, she wasn't genuinely joking, she was covering her a**. Or else, she is THE densest person on the planet and should give up her comedy attempts until she can learn to read a room." - CharlotteLucasOP
"She's definitely homophobic. You're NTA for making her leave. She meant everything she said about your best friend."
"She only said it was a joke after you called her out on it. She's not sorry and won't ever be. I hope you break up with her. She's toxic and you deserve better." - WeeklyConversation8
"As a gay man, I can tell you with absolute certainty that, for 99% of my equally gay friends, they're Ken dolls to me. I mean, I know they have d**ks because I've seen them in the hot tub/pool or walked in on them in a moment of embarrassing indiscretion, but yeah, no."
"It's not like they're unattractive (quite the opposite!) I just... don't see or think of them that way."
"I'm not going to say it would be 'weird,' but like, my best friend and I have known each other for fifteen years. Sleeping with him, or dating him, would be weird. It's just never been the nature of our friendship, and we've long joked that it's because we're basically sisters (because we're pretty stereotypical, to be honest)."
"Glad you two have each other, and glad you ditched the crazy. Just imagine if your best friend was female or something. Whew." - SandyDelights
"She'll never treat Mark with the respect he deserves. She'll see him at the gay guy. He won't be the guy who makes the best guacamole, the guy with the most movie trivia knowledge, the guy who likes funny pictures of llamas, the guy with the great singing voice, or the guy who is her boyfriend's BEST FRIEND."
"Homophobic people like her stop seeing the person when they come out to them. They're now just gay."
"I know you said you weren't looking for relationship advice, but I think you already know that the two of you hold different values and respect different things."
"You're only a year in and she doesn't live with you. That taste of homophobia you just got is just the beginning of her many layers."
"I've been with my guy for 9 years and we didn't become completely aware of each other's worst traits until we had our first child. We're still together 4 years later with a second child, so we were compatible through the trying times."
"Do you think that's going to be the case with your girlfriend?" - MadamFuzzyPants
After receiving feedback, the OP shared a brief update:
"This post received a lot more attention than I thought. I have come to the conclusion Hannah and I are no more. Thank you for your comments."
The subReddit was grateful that the OP had spoken up for his best friend and challenged his girlfriend's limiting views about Mark and the LGBTQ+ community.
Though the relationship didn't work out, hopefully Hannah's friends would be able to talk to her about what had really happened in her relationship and why the OP felt the need to put his best friend above her in a situation like this.















Trans Man Considers Breaking Off Engagement After Fiancé Wants Him To Wear A Dress For Wedding
KimJane Photography/GettyImages
A lot of people often say, "Believe people when they tell you who they are the first time."
It's one of life's truest (and ignored) sayings.
Believe a person when they are drunk and spew words as well.
Often, a few drinks will help a person let loose on how they really feel.
And then take note.
Redditor dude-e23 wanted to discuss his experience and get some feedback, so naturally, he came to the "Am I The A**hole" (AITA) subreddit.
He asked:
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
"Hi, I'm sorry for the potentially bad English; it's not my first language anyway."
"I'm a 26-year-old male who recently got engaged to my fiancè, a 28-year-old male."
"For the sake of the story, I'm going to call him Mark."
"I'm a trans man, and this will be relevant to the story."
"Mark and I have been going out for 4 years, and I wasn't on testosterone when we met, and only started recently."
"Mark had never had any issues with my gender identity; he always respected my pronouns and my gender, or so I thought."
"Recently, we were over at his parents' when the topic of the wedding planning came up."
"His mom asked about our wedding outfits, and Mark, who was a bit drunk at this point, said, 'I want to put (my name) in a dress so SHE can be prepared for HER future wifey duty.'"
"I was stunned, and I could see how uncomfortable his mom was."
"I said we were leaving and took Mark home."
"It happened yesterday, and I'm genuinely thinking of breaking it off."
"I've struggled a lot with my identity, and a big part of my family cut me off after my coming out."
"Right now, Mark is at work, and I pretended to be asleep when he left, but now I can't stop overthinking small details like how he used some feminine term in bed or how he always hated when I cut my hair short."
"But maybe he thought it was funny, and he was too drunk to realize what he was saying."
The OP was left to wonder:
Redditors shared their thoughts on this matter and weighed in on some options to the question, AITA:
Redditors declared that OP was NOT the A-hole.
"Yeah, so it turns out that this isn't the case."
"Please don't marry him."
"He fundamentally doesn't respect who you are."
"And to be honest, this would be a disturbing enough statement if you were a woman."
"You can't tie yourself down to this person." ~ HighRiseCat
"Yes! It would still be icky and questionable for him to say this if OP presented as a CIS female - but the fact that OP is a trans man makes it horrifying. WTF?!" ~ MarionberryOk2874
"NOR. I'm a cisgender, heterosexual married woman, so my experience with dating is very different from yours, but if my fiancé said 'She will be wearing a modest dress to get used to life as a married woman' or 'She needs to wear a low cut dress, so I can see what I'm buying' or anything along those lines, I would have called it off quickly."
"The dismissal of your identity is problematic as hell, but so is the little hint that married life will be radically different and not in a lovely, better way."
"Your wedding attire should reflect you, your identity, your values, comfort, and inspire confidence."
"You deserve that."
"Everyone deserves that." ~ ankareeda
"NOR, have a direct conversation with him about this, and don't get legally entangled with him."
"He shouldn't be thinking this is funny anyway; drunkness is not an excuse here, you're his partner of many years." ~ Fit_Square1322
"If these things that he says are coming out when he's drunk, that probably means he's thinking about these issues of your gender presentation, but he's not telling you what he's thinking."
"He sounds very emotionally immature and not ready for marriage." ~ GreenDirt2
"Bro, drunk words are sober thoughts with the volume turned up."
"Thought it was funny isn’t a defense."
"It’s a confession."
"He told his mom who he actually thinks you are."
"You survived your family cutting you off to live as you."
"You don’t owe anyone a second round of that grief because your fiancé can’t handle pronouns after 4 years." ~ BabydolllVibess
"Oh, my God??!!"
"Dude, that’s crazy. Please dump his as*."
"He clearly doesn’t see you as a man, and if you marry him, you’re resigning yourself to a life of being misgendered, and he’s probably gonna try and detransition you or feminize you (seeing as he wants you to wear a DRESS)."
"Also, I’m a trans dude, and I think it’s important that you hear a fellow trans man say this."
"You need to leave."
"You’re a man, and it’s insane that he’s trying to make you feel like you aren’t."
"The breakup will probably suck, but if you stay with him, it’ll be 100x worse." ~ mothmn_9
"NOR, I’ve learned drunk people usually speak more honestly than they mean to."
"I’d guess his mask slipped off; this is certainly grounds for leaving if he can’t accept who you are as you are." ~ Defiant_Tea_8722
"You’re not overreacting."
"I don’t think he actually respects you and who you are as a person."
"He called you feminine things all throughout your relationship."
"Maybe he never accepted you, and I’m sorry."
"I know that's a lot, but I know you will find someone who actually respects you and cares for you truly." ~ Due_Classic_4090
"Some people would tell you that people say things they don’t mean when they’re drunk. I think that’s BS."
"In my experience, it just removes their filter, and everything they say has an underlying truth to it."
"Knowing your gender identity and what you prefer, his words seem very disrespectful towards you and inconsiderate of your feelings, and being drunk isn’t a good enough excuse."
"If you have doubts, don’t just brush them off; trust your gut." ~ Kitchen_Process_8351
"NOR."
"I’m a cis woman, but my first serious relationship was with a trans man."
"Frankly, he was abusive, and I don’t even like or respect him, but still I would NEVER misgender him, because I sincerely understand that he’s a man."
"And I’m not an a**hole."
"Your partner is an a**hole." ~ tigalicious
"NOR. That’s a major breach of trust."
"Your relationship has gone on long enough for him to know that sh*t isn’t cool and is not a matter to joke over, even if he’s drunk (unless he has a drinking problem, in which case he needs to address that before marriage and work to make amends)." ~ Moist_Drippings
"NOR. It sounds like he might be counting on your gender identity to be 'just a phase' and that after the marriage, he’ll expect you to embody the 'wifely' role fully."
"He isn’t taking you seriously as a man, and it doesn’t sound like he’s actually on board for a homosexual marriage."
"Get out of there!" ~ Amwfgoddess
"NOR. My biggest concern is the potential for abuse - wifey duty?"
"Not even a conservative man says something like that."
"It's a pure trash statement."
"My first marriage was to an addict... 'DRUNKEN WORDS ARE SOBER THOUGHTS!'"
"😔 I'm so sorry. 🫂" ~ pashinates
OP returned with an UPDATE:
"I dont know if this is how you update, but anyway..."
"Mark and I are done."
"He came home from work an hour and a half ago, and I made him dinner so we could eat and talk."
"I told him what he said deeply hurt me, that I felt like he didn't respect me and saw me as a woman."
"He said that until recently he always saw me as a man, even though I'm the more feminine side (whatever that means), but since I've started taking testosterone, he realized he was less attracted to me and started to resent me."
"Which is f**king weird because my appearance didn't even change that much, and that he needed to take the 'lead' of the relationship again."
"By then, I had heard enough."
"I made it clear we were done and that this type of behavior was not okay and that it'll never be okay."
"That he had to go to therapy and work on his insecurities, but that I couldn't stay with him."
"At this point, he was apologizing and almost pleading with me to stay, but I really did not want to stay, so I took all my essentials and called my friend."
"I'm currently waiting for her to pick me up."
"I'm so confused about how someone I loved so much could betray me like that."
"I'll ask my friend and her husband if they can go back to take my other stuff later on because I really don't want to see him."
"I'm safe, my friend set me up in the guest bedroom, and I'm so grateful I have her."
"Mark and his family have been blowing up my phone."
"His mom, bless her heart, has only asked how I was and said that no matter what, she'll always see me as her son and that she's sorry about Mark's behavior, but his dad and brother have been sending me very insulting texts that included slurs."
"Mark threatened to 'go get me,' but luckily, he doesn't know where my friend lives."
"Honestly, I don't even recognize the man I was with."
"I'm thinking about moving to another city where I could live with my cousin until I'm back on my feet, but that's a whole other story."
"I'm planning to keep in contact with Mark's mom, and I'll be meeting up with her on Thursday."
"Thank you so much for opening my eyes and for making me realize Mark's behavior was not normal."
This is such a heartbreaking story.
So sorry you had to go through this, OP.
Reddit is loudly 1000% with you.
It's wonderful that you have love and support.
Stay strong.