Dear Abby: Girlfriend still in closet is taking her time to come out.
Dear Abby:
I’m a lesbian dating a woman who is still in the closet. She now identifies as bisexual. We have been dating for about a year.
The issue is that she is still in contact with a lot of her ex-boyfriends. I don’t expect her to come out of the closet on my timetable. However, I do have a problem with her talking to ex-boyfriends when they don’t know she’s in a relationship. She thinks I’m overreacting.
She has finally admitted that I am a friend and introduced me to her family and one other friend. It took a lot of work to get that far. I am demanding that she acknowledge — at the very least — that she is in a relationship. I’m not demanding she tell them it’s with a girl. I don’t want to date someone who is ashamed of me.
I no longer trust her to care more about my feelings than her interests. Should I say goodbye to this one? Dating in Silence
Dear Dating in Silence:
Yes. If, after a year of dating, your girlfriend is still hiding your relationship, I think that’s exactly what you should do. LGBT people come out in their own way, in their own time. If this difference in where the two of you are is a dealbreaker, you should move on and find someone more compatible.
Dear Abby:
For the past seven years, I have been in a long-distance relationship. I see him every three months. He is divorced and a workaholic. I love him very much, and he says he also loves me.
I had put a tattoo of his name on my hip. This time when he visited, I showed it to him. When I did, he was shocked. He said he was flattered but thought it was “a bit much.” Then he said he would never tattoo someone’s name on himself unless he first asked permission.
I told him I really love him, and even if something happened and we broke up for some reason that it was all right. I said I am 60 years old, and it was my body and my decision, and that I did it for myself because I will never love another man the way I love him.
Abby, do you think I should have asked him first? Do you think maybe he doesn’t love me as much as he says he does? Please help me understand this. Tattoo in San Diego Dear Tattoo:
At age 60, you should not have to ask anyone’s permission to get a tattoo. If, after seven years, you see this man only every three months, it should be plain by now that he’s not interested in a closer relationship.
Most men would be flattered that you got the tattoo, unless they were afraid it might somehow reveal that you are lovers. Are you absolutely sure this man is divorced? Your situation is so peculiar that it’s time you did some double-checking. Better late than never.
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