West Hollywood will now legally recognize poly relationships

This story originally appeared on Them.

People in romantic relationships that include more than two people will soon be legally recognized by the city of West Hollywood, per local NBC affiliate KNBC.

The West Hollywood City Council voted unanimously on November 2 to pass an ordinance paving the way for three or more adults in a committed relationship to register as a "multi-partner domestic relationship” within the city.

In order to register, those involved must meet certain requirements, including the relationship being consensual and no parties being related by blood, per KTLA.

The benefits of the registration include a slate of local government protections, including being able to visit a loved one if they are in a healthcare facility or city jail, as well as renting protections.

These protections are a corrective for a legal framework that benefits people in two-person relationships, according to advocates.

“This law is just the beginning,” Christina Fialho, an attorney and founder of the bisexual advocacy group Rewrite the BiLine, told the Los Angeles Times. Per the Times, Fialho first brought the idea for the ordinance to a West Hollywood council member in 2025.

She continued, “I think it makes it possible for people to dream about a future they once thought was out of reach.”

The ordinance has a relatively limited reach, only applying at a local level and not interacting with California broader state’s marriage or domestic partnership laws, or federal law, per KNBC. The new law will go into effect on December 2, 2026.

The move comes after West Hollywood banned discrimination against polyamorous couples in March, per KTLA.

As news of the ordinance made its way through right-wing media, reactions to the set of legal protections were, of course, overblownWhile speaking to Fox News on the subject, commentator and noted anti-trans grifter Riley Gaine looked exasperated and somehow blamed this on trans people and furries.

“California — is everyone there either trans or communist or a furry?” Gaines said. “I feel bad for the normal people in California. They just keep finding ways to tear apart the nuclear family. Marriage is defined by the Bible as one man and one woman.”

Of course, as noted above, this ordinance had nothing to do with marriage.

Gaines added, “This is why God burned Sodom and Gomorrah.”

(Theologically, many scholars agree that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is less about any kind of sexual sin, as many in the American evangelical tradition claim, and is more about the sin of inhospitality and class inequality.)

Gaines was not the only right-wing figure who pounced on the story, especially in the aftermath of a brutal midterm election cycle for Republican candidates. In fact, according to Ground News, an outlet that tracks how many publications cover a story through the lens of political bent, 68% of the outlets that have covered this story in some way are right-wing, as opposed to 21% left-wing, with the remaining percentage being centrist.

West Hollywood and nine other cities nationwide offer varying levels of protection for people in multi-partner relationships, including Seattle, which passed a bill protecting non-traditional family structures in September. Other cities with such protections include Cambridge and Somerville in Massachusetts; Berkeley and Oakland in California; Olympia, Washington; Portland and Astoria in Oregon; and Hazel Park, Michigan.

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