The widespread use of the word “partner” to describe one's significant other is the fault of gays and has contributed to the moral erosion of society, says a Christian lobby group. “In the 1980s the polite term "partner" began to be applied to people in homosexual relationships. This term has now spread to heterosexual couples, either married or in de facto relationships,” says the Maxim Institute in a press release this week. The Institute is horrified that the use of this term has made heterosexual relationships equal to gay ones, and that the forthcoming Civil Union bill will cement this into legislation. “The growing use of "partner" has had a huge effect. It has helped cement the changes in morality and erosion of the distinct nature of marriage,” the diatribe continues. “The linguistic myth of equality has been transformed into legal reality – a victory for the sexual revolutionaries."