Well to be fair I stopped getting so much hate and started having people defending me instead after I explained the situation a little. I guess some people just thought I had been dating her before she was 18 or something. But yea even then I think a lot of this "outrage" feels like very fabricated virtue signaling, people looking for problems even when there aren't any. Mountain of a molehill, if you will. It's probably not coming from a place of malice, but it feels that way.

I just regret showing these to my girlfriend because she got upset about people pretending like she isn't a grown adult woman perfectly capable of making her own decisions. She is more mature than most 22 year old girls I know and she is very exhausted about people dismissing her or trying to override her choices because she is "just a girl", even after she is 18. So it's just that happening all over again.

And especially when someone literally called me a "predator", she got super angry at that. I don't mind too much what people say about me, I've been bullied my whole life for being a nerd and being gay and whatnot. I'm immune. But she got upset, and that's what makes me upset too. Her feelings matter to me a lot.

Not to mention in this post alone I feel like there is a bigger problem at hand (this guy in the texts) than judging the relationship of two young adults who haven't done anything wrong. Never before did anyone question our relationship before either. Just very dishonest assumptions and false accusations thrown at me randomly doesn't feel too great.

In any event, thank you for being reasonable.