"I'm not close with my parents."

mrsconn23

Dear Prudence,
I am a woman in my late 30s marrying the woman of my dreams this fall. I will not be inviting my mother and, by extension, my father. Everyone seems to assume this is because they are opposed to gay marriage, but that’s not true. They support gay marriage, and in fact we pretty much agree politically on all points. They just don’t like me as a person—which is sad, but also I don’t really like them either. So how do I navigate this? I don’t want people maligning them as bigots, because they are not. They are just regular, run-of-the-mill assholes I don’t want anywhere near my wedding. I don’t like them, and though I will admit I do feel some sort of suppressed glee when people assume they are horrible (immature yes, but I am human), I don’t want them thinking they are horrible for the wrong reasons.
—Estranged for Other Reasons

STARMOON44

It is not your job to fix this. “We aren’t close” and change the subject. 

charlotte989875

“We’re not close” or “they couldn’t make it”. 

But yeah I think there’s a lot more going on in this family, but we’ll stick with “we’re not close”. 

Ro041

I mean, I would say, "They are just regular, run-of-the-mill assholes I don’t want anywhere near my wedding."    

banana468

"Oh we just aren't close." 

ShesSoCold

Ro041 said:

I mean, I would say, "They are just regular, run-of-the-mill assholes I don’t want anywhere near my wedding."    

STUCK

This. LOL I love it!

I'd stick with "we're not close" and then if the person goes, "Oh? Don't approve of your lifestyle?" then LW can say something like, "Oh not it's not that, we're just not close." Done and done.

downtondiva

Just tell them you're not close with your parents and decided not to invite them. Maybe they won't believe you if you say it isn't a prejudice thing, but that's beyond your control. Just enjoy your engagement and wedding and don't worry what everyone else thinks.