Relations with neighbors can be a delicate balance, and sometimes they can become downright volatile.
That's what happened to a woman on Reddit whose neighbor went full homophobic when she got a girlfriend. She wasn't sure about how she handled the situation, so she went to the AITA subReddit for input.
The Original Poster (OP), who goes by trottreacle on the site, asked:
"AITA for taking the garden with me when I moved?"
She explained:
"I 30f[emale] moved to a rented flat a few yrs ago. Me on the top floor & below me a guy J 50. Both places are small 1bd but there is a shared garden which is big but not cared for at all, super overgrown."
"I LOVE gardening. I got permission from my landlord & J to get it looking decent so J & I could enjoy it. He said he's a busy guy & not interested nor uses it so everyone was happy."
"I spent weeks getting it really lovely & spent the best part of £1k on it & that was on a budget too. Lots of plants, a veggie patch, a few small trees. The veg patch would always yield a great amount so I was always happy to share with J, he would buy me a case of beer once in a while as his way of payment."
"He even started inviting his friends over for BBQs etc & vice versa, we always extended the invite to each other. It was flexible & easy."
"J was always a bit flirty with me, especially after a few but it always felt harmless. I would even hang sometimes with his friends all male for a beer in the garden but still never felt funny & was happy to banter."
"The problems started when I got a gf S 36, J didn't seem to vibe with her from the start. Obviously the more serious S & I got the more she would stay over. This really seemed to bug J but she was always considerate, she wouldn't use our parking spaces etc."
"I put it down to jealousy but neither of us really cared & as we got more serious we decided it was time to move in together."
"The final straw came when S was at my place alone & needed some veggies for a meal she was making us, she went to help herself. J was already in the garden but when he saw her picking from the veg he had a go at her accusing her of stealing & disrespecting me & him as it was OUR (tenants only) garden."
"Anyway when S left for work the next day she sent me a pic of her car with a key scratch that read DYKE on the side. So turns out J is a homophobic AH. He denied & we didn't have proof. We decided to escalate the move immediately."
"WW3 started when I decided to move MY entire garden when J was at work to S's place. Luckily she has a big enough space to get everything in & a lot of plants I purposely planted so that they could be movable. I even took the vegetable patch & every damn bean."
"Yes it looked a bit scrappy afterwards but was still better than when I first arrived. I even put down grass seed so the patchy bits would go completely back to normal. It'll grow back to be a totally plain weedless lawn."
"My phone has erupted. J has called me every name under the sun & has said I have ruined HIS property. The landlord is also pissed & has said I've ruined its value."
"And is threating not to return my deposit & SUE, I sent before & after pics of the garden to show I had only taken only my property with me & I've kept every receipt too to prove what I spent. They're threatening me, accusing me of stealing. I'm looking into my own legal action to get my deposit back, they've not got a leg to stand on."
"AITA for taking my garden with me?"
Redditors were then asked to judge who was in the wrong in this situation based on the following categories:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH - No A**holes Here
Obviously, this was a cut-and-dried example of a NTA.
"NTA and make sure the landlord knows that you moved because someone keyed your GF's car with a homophobic message." --atomicalex0
"NTA and agree with the above comment, make sure your landlord knows that your move is precedented by someone keying homophobic slurs into your girlfriends car."
"Also, attach the permission from landlord that YOU made it look decent, along with receipts of things you bought, and make sure to tell him in writing that if he does not return your deposit back as he is legally required to do so, you have already made arrangements with counsel and he will receive correspondence in the next few days to get a civil case started."
"Even if none of that is true, do it." --breadnbuttaaa
"NTA. You took your plants with you when you had to move out to avoid further homophobic harassment from jealous creeper J. The number of men in this story feeling entitled to your time, attention, and labor is unreal - you got permission to put in a garden, you spent your own money on it, you did all the work - why wouldn't you take it with you?"
"You didn't put it in for them, and you know they won't take care of it in your absence, they'll let it wither and die. I don't know the legal system there, but you should talk to someone there and see about what your rights in the situation are and whether you need representation to defend yourself from this."
"I'd frame it with your landlord as harassment from them and from J, and I'd make clear that if they wanted you to leave the garden, they 1) should have made that clear, and 2) should have offered to reimburse you for both the plants and your time and labor in it - I'd charge the latter at whatever rate you make at work or higher, but definitely get legal advice before you say anything to them. I hope you and S have a wonderful life together!" --Doris_Useless
"NTA. You relinquished the property in its original state. Still probably looked better than it did originally if it was overgrown before you cleaned it up. Those were your plants, not your landlord's. I'm glad you were able to move out of that space in which you felt uncomfortable and unsafe (kind of a Seussian sentence), OP. Best wishes moving forward." --VerendusAudeo
After reading her fellow Redditors' comments, OP came back to add a bit more information.
"Edit: I did message landlord prior to moving to ask if he wanted to buy the garden but I don't think he understood what I meant & I didn't press it further."
"Also, after I took it, I did message landlord to say again he could buy it back from me at cost of my purchase. But I would not replant it. Again I don't think he understood."
"I believe J has told him that he bought half of the garden because he would buy me a case of beer every so often which somehow justifies him slowly buying half off me. Suddenly the vegetables he consumed have been forgotten."
Hopefully OP can be happier in her new place.
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.