Kayleb Alexander, 23, met 56-year-old Mark Nichols six years ago.
Mark, who was then 49, sent Kayleb – who was 17 at the time – a message on the gay dating and hookup app Grindr, and their relationship went from there.
Mark said that he didn’t initially think that he was going to fall in love, but their connection felt clear, and they made things official just a few months in.
While the couple, who live in Ypsilanti, Michigan, have a relatively normal life, their six-year partnership has been subject to intense criticism due to their age gap.
They want to dispel the rumours that there is any sort of control or manipulation involved between them, and to tell ‘haters’ that Mark is not a sugar daddy.
Some of the comments they’ve received include that Mark is a paedophile, they are ‘disgusting’, and that their age gap makes people want to vomit.
Kayleb said: ‘It triggers me because there are actual occurrences. My boyfriend is in a consensual relationship with a 23-year-old male.’
He feels that you shouldn’t be judged if you’re in an age-gap relationship when there is consent and both are of legal age. In Michigan, the age of consent is 16.
In Mark’s opinion, there’s a double standard, where heterosexual relationships are treated differently. He feels that, if an older man was to be with a younger woman, they’d be lauded, whereas he is called ‘sick and twisted’ for being with a younger man.
But it isn’t just anonymous commenters that have concerns about their age gap.
Kayleb’s best friend voiced her concerns about Mark’s health in the future, and the fact that their ages might have meant they had differing interests and not a lot in common.
When she met Mark, however, and saw him with Kayleb, she said that those fears melted away.
Mark and Kayleb regularly appear together in videos on Kayleb’s YouTube channel, where they talk about the trials and tribulations of being together for six years.
Although Kayleb sometimes labels videos with titles that include words like ‘sugar daddy’, the pair stress that is simply clickbait and sensationalism, and Kayleb is perfectly capable of looking after himself (although, Mark adds, ‘when he wants to’).
They’ve definitely been through some hardships, including when Mark cheated on Kayleb.
Although they don’t specify how far this infidelity went, a video Kayleb uploaded to his channel seemed to hint that Mark had been meeting up with someone else.
Kayleb says, though, that he’s ‘overcome’ the cheating, and they’re stronger as a result.
The couple are now planning to move away to Hawaii, where they purchased their dream home recently.
Although Mark worries that he’ll pass away before Kayleb reaches his 50s himself, Kayleb said that he’d be happy to take care of his boyfriend as he becomes less able to do so himself, and they’re taking it all in their stride.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/14/33-year-age-gap-couple-defend-relationship-haters-call-paedophilia-11126179/
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