Have an aunt who has only ever lived with women. I was always told it was her roommate. Everyone refers to her as a roommate. They BOUGHT THE HOUSE TOGETHER. Have dogs together. Raise the other ones kids together.
When I was like 17, and openly gay, I straight up asked my grandmother if her sister was a lesbian. She said no they're just roommates and got super specific about it. I asked my aunt a couple weeks later when I saw her and she went "Well, yeah. Do I not wear enough flannel?"
It certainly doesn't hurt!
I met my wife in college and we were both jobless (and poor) college students. I got married because I wanted to share my life with her, but sharing an apartment and bed was a financially beneficial arrangement!
We've done well on the financial situation however, so no complaining there. We both graduated with engineering degrees, so that's a pretty good start.