I work in a small town and my colleagues are what I’d call pretty conventional people. Because my same-sex partner and I live together, the workplace Monday morning conversations about the weekend was always uncomfortable for me. I didn’t want to have to spell it out for people at work but it was hard to keep mentioning my boyfriend and his family as though he was just a friend.  One of my younger colleagues got it and started naturally including my boyfriend’s name in the conversation, which I really appreciated. The others eventually caught on and followed suit. These days I realise that I’m more relaxed around them and no longer on my guard like before. And to be honest I now think that these ‘conventional’ people were always a lot more open than I gave them credit for, and that maybe I was the one holding back. Either way – now that I can be myself, work is definitely a much better place for me.