I agree. It's just a word, yet, in our laws, it affords so much. "Partners" have been kept from visiting their loved ones who were in intensive care. Children brought into these unions were not protected if one parent died intestate.
My mother got frustrated once over Ellen calling her wife, "wife." My mother thought that if Ellen was calling her the wife, that must mean Ellen was identifying herself as the "husband." I explained that, no, there are "two wives." She thought about that and then brightened. Once she got past the word issue, she seemed more accepting.
It's just a matter of time.