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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

My husband of 25 years gay...

83 replies

Corinthian44 · 10/07/2019 17:16

I'm going through a divorce, I asked him a few months ago when we decided to split if he was gay because it would explain his behaviour and I would feel better, but he said he wasn't.
I found out 2 weeks ago he is, so I sent him a 5 page letter expressing how I feel especially as he took 50% of my inheritance as part of the settlement.
I am very angry and bitter but also feel ridiculous that people will laugh about my stupidity.
Don't know where to turn for support.

OP posts:
sunshinesupermum · 12/07/2019 12:01

Hear, hear MaudebeGonne

PaterPower · 12/07/2019 12:41

”I don’t know any women who’ve feigned love and sexual attraction for financial gain.”

I suspect you do, they just haven’t admitted it. And even if you don’t personally, there are plenty of examples that hit the press periodically.

There are other threads still on the top page of this board (eg the one about marrying for money) where posters have acknowledged “settling” or knowing close friends who’ve settled so they’re financially secure and can have the DC they want. All your friends might be purer than pure by making the transactional nature of their relationship clear to each other, but most people wouldn’t.

And yes, the 90s was not the 50s but remember the fuss when George Michael was outed? And AIDS was still the “gay man’s” disease. I was a student in a very large UK city in the 90s. It liked to portray itself as cosmopolitan, but attacks on “obviously” gay students were common and most of my friends were very discreet in public.

MaudebeGonne · 12/07/2019 13:13

There is being discreet and there is lying to yourself and someone you love for over 25 years so you get the benefits of a middle-class family life.

I am not saying I don't have sympathy for this man - I do. It must have been a horrible way to live, to surpess and deny his sexuality for so long, and to feel so embarrassed/ashamed/scared of that part of himself.

But he is not to be trusted to"do right" by his ex wife. He isn't an honest person, and he will continue to protect and serve himself above anyone else because that is what he has always done.

Wallywobbles · 12/07/2019 14:14

Please see a real lawyer with teeth.

stucknoue · 12/07/2019 14:23

You are far from alone, on the 90's when you married it was still hard in many communities, in fact it's still hard today especially in very religious families - you can love a person without being in love with them too. I'm guessing he's middle aged and at peak "mid-life crisis" stage, I'm also divorcing because h wants to live alone! Speak to others who have been through this, I know one woman and one man personally, it's quite common

hellsbellsmelons · 12/07/2019 15:17

”I don’t know any women who’ve feigned love and sexual attraction for financial gain.”
I don't know her but Melania Trump!!!
There are loads more.
Loads of women marry for money!

Deathgrip · 12/07/2019 16:39

I don't know her but Melania Trump!!! There are loads more. Loads of women marry for money!

You didn’t read my post properly. You think Trump doesn’t know that Melania is with him for the money? You think he believes she’s with him because she’s just so madly in love and attracted to him? He knows the score. OP did not.

PaterPower · 12/07/2019 16:59

Trump knows the score?! I wouldn’t trust him to know the score for the last game he watched. I genuinely think he believes in his own mythos.

31RueCambon · 12/07/2019 21:12

I think trump thinks HE hasnt aged. Other 72 year olds are old he could probably acknowledge that but not him. He probably thinks Melania is a bit old for a man of his standing.

BarbariansMum · 12/07/2019 21:18

I know 3 women who came out as gay in their latest 40s/ early 50s after a marriage and children. I dont think any of them married for financial gain, nor understand why they married men at all. I guess not everyone understands or accepts their sexuality in their youth.

It is noticable on here that women who come out after marriage are treated far more kindly than men.

Idontwanttotalk · 13/07/2019 00:55

"I am very angry and bitter but also feel ridiculous that people will laugh about my stupidity.'
You haven't been stupid. You have been duped, conned, misled. You behaved normally and trusted someone you loved. None of this is your fault.

This is your husband's fault. He lied and continued to live that lie for 25 years. He was too gutless to be true to himself and preferred to let you be destroyed with his lies.....all to prevent others from knowing he was gay.

I have no sympathy with gay people who mislead others. If they don't want to come out as gay then they should practice abstinence rather than cause such hurt to a partner they pretend to love and be sexually attracted to.

Corinthian44 · 13/07/2019 08:00

Thank you all for your comments.
I feel so angry that I supported him through two breakdowns which were now clearly about his sexuality. Worse he had huge anger issues because of his suppression in which he made my life and daughters a misery for many years, but I put up with it.
He had the audacity to call our daughter a prostitute because she had a one night stand (at the age of 22) , so we had a huge row and he pushed and pushed asking if I wanted to split, so I was exhausted and said yes. He must have thought fantastic!!
So I moved out in February after sleeping on the sofa for 4 months. He has no respect for me. We started divorce proceedings last November and under marital law he is entitled to my inheritance from 2015. But he refused to acknowledge I put 36k capital into our home which annoyed me sadly because I couldn't wait to leave I just agreed 50/50. He's 10 years younger, a solicitor would say go to your divorce one (conflict of interest) they are dealing with this and I asked myself so I have the strength and indeed funds to fight this and if I lost then what?
He's found out I have a new partner so he's loving using my new relationship as his guise why I left.
I am waiting on his response from my letter, it's been a week now, it will have been a bombshell to him and I'm glad I wrote and sent it, he needed to know I know ..
Thanks all for your support it's the lying I'm.struggling with.

OP posts:
mark090 · 13/07/2019 08:04

This i really bad happen with you and he laugh at you.

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 13/07/2019 10:47

Hang the letter! you are focusing on the wrong thing here

Have you been to see a lawyer to try and redress this?

MarianneM · 13/07/2019 11:27

Women are not human shields for men.

This. It is always about men's sexuality and their needs, isn't it?

middleeasternpromise · 13/07/2019 11:31

How did you find out he is gay?

This man is not going to admit it if hes gone this long trying to hide it. If he is gay and this has been a contributor to his unreasonable behaviour what do you think will change by you outing him? His sexuality is possibly the least of your worries, his personality and mental health might be more of a problem if he can abuse his daughter with his morality and generate so much friction in a marital relationship. Don't waste any more of your well being on this situation - if you have a new relationship that is working for you, invest in that. As long as you have enough money to live on and can walk away from this toxic person then you are in a much better position than many who are still forced to live under the same room and have no prospect of escape. Living your best life is the most satisfying response to the end of a troubled marriage not seeking acceptance by the other person of their wrongdoings. With someone like that, you are highly unlikely to get it. Don't waste any more time.

DelphiniumBlue · 13/07/2019 13:36

Like every else, I am saying go find a real life lawyer and get advice.
If your current agreement was made without full disclosure and under pressure, it may be that it is not enforceable. It's not clear to me from your post whether you had independent legal advice before reaching agreement , which is another issue you need to discuss with a lawyer. The fact that you are 10 years older with therefore fewer earning years left and reduced pension building ability is also relevant- was this taken into account?
In my view you have moral grounds to renege on this agreement and it may be that you also have legal ones.

MrsMGE · 17/07/2019 00:39

Ladies, hope you don't mind me posting. I've been searching for the most relevant and recent thread on Mumsnet and came across your discussion. It's not something I am comfortable discussing openly with anyone, but need a word of advice.

Steaight to the point - I have had a close friend (we were like sisters for many years), she was my Maid of Honour and then asked me to be hers. The issue is myself and most of our friends didn't like her partner and thought he wasn't the right match for her. Now, I am a pretty good judge of character and can easily sense people's real side. He came across to me as insincere. I vividly remember telling my husband few years ago there was something "insincere" about this guy and I couldn't trust him. My DH, who loves everyone and everyone loves him, said he didn't like him either. That was another red flag.

I then spoke to my friend, without trying to interfere too much, about whether she was sure they were the right match. She said she knew they were different, but that she was happy with him.

Next thing I know, they were engaged, very quickly. I was asked to be her MoH.

Some time later, we had another conversation and she bawled her eyes out saying that he said their sex life wasn't enough and that he was sending her to a sex therapist, and she herself was considering therapy. I was shocked to hear this few months before their wedding and told her that maybe she should consider postponing the wedding, as these were serious issues to have during what was supposed to be the rosy period in a relationship. I also shared my doubts with her, he was coming across as cold and dismissive towards her, was a very close book person, not many people warmed up to him or got to know him, and generally speaking he was her complete opposite. She said she knows, but that he was different when it was just the two of them, and that he had a difficult childhood and a strained relationship with his father, that's why he is distant with people.

I didn't buy that.

I basically didn't know what to do to and felt I could not support their marriage. My friend and I had an argument over something minor (we never normally argue but we both had a bad day) and frankly, I took this opportunity to get myself out of the situation. The argument escalated massively over nothing and we didn't speak for a long while after that. Admittedly, I've allowed that because I felt I could not be her MoH because marrying that guy would make her unhappy.

We are now talking again. She is still married to him and they now have a baby.

In the meantime, I was told in secret by our friend in common that she has randomly found out from a man she works with that my friend's husband is gay. Not bi. Gay. She thought it was a mistake, but showed a picture of my friend's DH to him, and he confirmed with absolute certainty that he dated one of his mates and that he is still active on the local gay scene. He also knew he was married and recently had a baby, so there's no mistake.

Now, when I head this it all of a sudden made sense to me. It was like a missing puzzle and I couldn't believe I haven't sussed it out myself before.

Question to you: should I tell my friend at some point about this, or should I never mention this and take a view that a) it's their private matter, b) she may know?!, and most importantly c) they have a baby and its welfare and their family is too important for anyone to interfere?

Would you rather your best friend tell you straight, or would you hate her for doing so?

I am glad me and her are talking again, but I have no idea what to do. I'm an honest person too and I think hiding such a heavy secret is likely to be very, very difficult for me personally.

Your thoughts will be much appreciated.

Herocomplex · 17/07/2019 11:16

What would she do if you did tell her MrsMGE, do you think?

MrsMGE · 17/07/2019 16:13

@Herocomplex Thank you for replying. I honestly have no idea, certainly not in respect of her relationship. In respect of our friendship, I would hope she'd understand that I told her in good faith because I love her and she deserves to know, not to ruin her family. But if she already knows or suspects and wants to keep everything private then she probably wouldn't take it well.

beanaseireann · 18/07/2019 08:40

Personally I would want to know.

What a horrible situation you find yourself in MrsMGE

Bored40 · 18/07/2019 09:49

@MrsMGE you could approach it from the angle that if she does know and is keeping it private, that you felt it would be wrong to pretend you knew nothing when you did, and also that you want to be there for her if she needs a friend?
I had a friend who was in a relationship with a man who came out as bi, and they had an open relationship for a time before eventually deciding to separate. She told a few friends once they'd decided the open relationship, but prior to that she really struggled - she didn't tell anyone because she couldn't see how she could tell people without it becoming a drama or being judged (she was worried that people would think she was a doormat) but realised later that it was a real hard thing for her to mentally deal with on her own.

aweedropofsancerre · 18/07/2019 11:38

MrsMGE Interesting discussion, if you remove the sexuality out of it the main issue is that your friends DH is cheating. Would I want to know if my partner was cheating? Yes I would...

beanaseireann · 18/07/2019 12:10

From an std pov it's important she knows.

MrsMGE · 18/07/2019 21:19

Thank you ladies for taking time to read and respond. Definitely food for thought. I've been thinking a lot about this and also had a lot of feedback on another thread. I decided I will tell her even though I'm dreading this. Sorry again for hijacking your discussion, I came to you because I'd really value your opinion, especially considering what at least some of you on here have been through. It must have been very hard for you to be in the position you were in Flowers

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