Such an explosive topic! I have been ethically non-monogamous for most of my life, although not polyamorous, in that I have not formed lasting relationships with people outside my primary partnerships. When I write stories about ethical non-monogamy, maybe featuring a sexual affair I had with someone while I was married, I always attract really vicious push back.

I mean, for the most part people are sensitive and respectful and try to understand what I’m writing about. But there’s always that fringe, there’s always that small group of people who just have to castigate me. They’re horrified that I cheated on my partner, even though my partner was fully on board.

They just cannot wrap their minds around how anything less than monogamy can be acceptable. It’s tiresome sometimes, and exhausting when people get really angry.

I remember one gay man calling me mentally ill over it, stuck in a “cycle of repeating adolescent behavior" because I was pathologically incapable of growing up.

But at least I don’t have to deal with people trying to speak authoritatively about something they don’t actually know anything about. Sigh.