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April 20, 2018 1:07 am  #1


Found out from strangers

Just joined. First post. Apologies in advance for the length/rambling.

Three months ago my husband walked out on me on our 10 year anniversary, two months after I lost my job. He spent the day secretly packing after telling me he didn't want to do anything to celebrate because he was having stomach issues. After eating dinner he blindsided me while I was working on my computer by launching into saying he couldn't do it anymore, he didn't feel like he could be himself around me and that I didn't listen to him. Oh, and it wasn't up for discussion but he'd pay for me to move near my family - 2000 miles away (I had/have no intention of moving). He was gone less than 10 minutes later.

He eventually moved his stuff out after making me divide stuff and trying to guilt me about him being "homeless" and made people think I kicked him out (we run in the same circles but he stopped talking to anybody I spend time with). While he moved his stuff out he told me that I picked the wrong guy even though he pursued me, he pushed for getting married, he would always talk about having kids, and even joked about hiding my birth control. Later he did a 360 based on what his friends' preferences were without even talking to me. He'd been gaslighting me about lots of things and if I called him out on it he told me I had trust issues. I kind of came to terms with him being an ass and a narcissist about a month ago but still struggle with caring for him.

Then, last night I'm out with friends and find out that people, that know me and my husband separately, are referring to him as "that guy that's trying to be gay" and that he's developed more effeminate speech patterns. I don't know how to take it because I'm more inclined to think it's his narcissism trying to get attention and sympathy. He has a tendency to go along with whatever is "chic" among his activist friends so I wouldn't be surprised if it was him just trying to fit in. I knew he watched straight porn sometimes, had very standard straight celebrity crushes (Scarlett Johansonn, Natalie Portman), used to go to strip clubs a lot and as far as I knew he was very promiscuous in his late teens/early 20s but it was all women so I didn't have any big red flags that he might be gay. Am I just in denial because I don't know the half of it? 

I know his dad cheated on his mom when he was like 5 years old and that turned into developing a hyper sensitivity to what is appropriate in a relationship (man takes care of woman, no cheating) and that he should be a "good man" and how he could only be monogamous but maybe he was just repressing his true self. I'm very independent and secure so gender expectations were never really a concern of mine. He would also say things like he would never do ecstasy because "it makes you gay" but his recreational drug use has increased a lot in the past few year and I only incidentally know that, he didn't tell me what was going on. I tried to get him to go to therapy for years and years for a myriad of reasons that were affecting our relationship but he thought he was smarter than therapists. Supposedly he's going to one now but who knows if that's true or not. Maybe he was just really, really repressed?

 

April 20, 2018 2:06 am  #2


Re: Found out from strangers

The speech thing was just an added observation. I got the impression that it was going around that he was experimenting with being gay. No details so far. It’s a small community in a small city so information spreads like wildfire.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it turns out he’s gay. If that’s the case I’m just really hurt that he thought it better to just take off and leave me and our two dogs without a conversation. From what little he’s said to me he blames me for his mental state. :/

     Thread Starter
 

April 20, 2018 6:19 am  #3


Re: Found out from strangers

Whatever you do don't accept the blame for this. After my husband moved out I found that he had missed a page he had hand-written and overlooked under stuff he didn't want. I saw just enough to see that it was like a journal page and that it blamed me for not being emotionally supportive of him. I don't know how old it was and I did not read it entirely, just enough to know that I did not need to forward it to him and that it was bullshit. In retrospect I realize that he is a narcissist - the world revolves around him.

He'd moved out after telling me several months earlier that he was gay and wanted a divorce. He had a man he was in love with. He knew virtually all his life that he was attracted to men but due to his religious
family he tried to suppress it. Do not presume that he has not had sexual relations with others - male or female - while married to you and get tested for all sexually transmitted diseases. Then get yourself an attorney and find out your rights under the laws where you live.

Ten years married in the U.S. gives you the right to claim Social Security based on his earnings record rather than yours when you retire if it will net you more. Consider that your anniversary gift and accept that whatever he is he isn't for you. Here's to your future!


Try Gardening. It'll keep you grounded.
 

April 20, 2018 8:37 am  #4


Re: Found out from strangers

Hi SC, 

Welcome to our group.  There is reason you are here on the straight spouse board.  You don't have proof yet, but in most cases your intuition on this is correct.  But you should know that you might never actually get proof, so please don't get caught up or obsessed with needing this proof.  Your intuition and his actions are enough.  Time to move forward with your life.   A man who treated you like that doesn't deserve you.  Be kind to yourself and recover...  endure the storm, but know that it will pass.  When the rain stops and the clouds clear you will find the most beautiful horizon and an amazing life laid out before you. 

Welcome to our family.  Please participate and post as much as you like.  Let us know how we can help. 


-Formerly "Lostdad" - I now embrace the username "phoenix" because my former life ended in flames, but my new life will be spectacular. 

 
 

April 20, 2018 6:56 pm  #5


Re: Found out from strangers

Maybe he is gay and overcompensating after living for so long in denial?

I would suggest moving on. His welfare is no longer your concern. Don't forget he lied, ejected you on your anniversary and generally treated you as disposable instead of a partner. You don't deserve that. Maybe you should make a list of the things he's done to you. Then anytime you begin to struggle, you haul that out and review it to remind yourself what kind of person he really is. Best wishes!


“The future is unwritten.”
― Joe Strummer
 

April 20, 2018 8:34 pm  #6


Re: Found out from strangers

Thank you everyone so far for your responses. I've been doing my best to cope after he left but this ended up becoming another deception.

Fortunately, I'm still in the house we bought 3 years ago. I don't think he expected me to stay in this city but that's because he wasn't paying attention. I have lots of plans for myself that I put in motion just before he left that I'm still pushing forward on so I've been keeping myself busy.

He's dragging his feet on a lot of stuff (hasn't even forwarded his mail yet much less the divorce paperwork) so I can't break all contact yet but I certainly don't go out of my way to run into him. I just find myself questioning every interaction we ever had. :/

     Thread Starter
 

April 20, 2018 9:52 pm  #7


Re: Found out from strangers

Unfortunately, questioning our entire pasts, every interaction with them, is normal in this situation.  It's one more piece of the ugly.  And also unfortunately, if my experience is anything to go on, you'll be doing so for a while, with each new step in your own realizations, each step forward in your progress, bringing up new instances to re-examine.  The good thing is that this is part of remaking your self so that you are able to leave your disordered partner behind, and are able to go forward into your future with a stronger sense of self and more self-knowlege, which will make it less likely you'll be drawn in to a similar situation. 

Last edited by OutofHisCloset (April 20, 2018 9:54 pm)

 

April 23, 2018 11:37 am  #8


Re: Found out from strangers

Trust your intuition.  That's all I can say.

 

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