I’m creating a list of families that lists both partners’ names, ages, wedding date, and divorce date if there is one. To do this I have been using:
Husband Age Wife Age Marriage Date Divorce Date
My cousin got married, and because he is gay Husband and Wife no longer apply as appropriate titles for the list of families. I’m not sure how to replace Husband and Wife. I could use Husband and Spouse but that won’t work where the couple are both female. Using Partner A and Partner B would seem to negate the “family” aspect of the relationship, considering that you can have a partner and not be married. Also, partner seems very business-like to me — as in law partners, business partners, etc.
Is there a way to replace husband and wife in a family relationship that still carries the family connotation but is gender neutral? Spouse seems to fit one half the couple, but I’m not sure what then to title the other half.