California city makes history allowing throuples, foursomes to legally register as partners

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Throuples, foursomes and other multi-partner relationships can now register as domestic partners in a Los Angeles County city after its City Council unanimously approved new legal protections for polyamorous couples.

West Hollywood passed the ordinance Tuesday after it was introduced by Mayor John Heilman.

The measure allows people in relationships involving multiple partners to officially register with the city, granting them certain rights, including hospital visitation and additional tenant protections.

However, the law has its limitations, as it does not provide the same legal rights afforded to married couples or traditional domestic partners.

Still, supporters say the ordinance marks an important step toward addressing challenges faced by adults who maintain romantic or other committed relationships with multiple people.

These barriers, they say, often arise in housing, healthcare, education and other services, where existing policies largely cater to two-person partnerships or traditional family households.

Christina Fialho, an attorney and founder of the bisexual media representation advocacy group Rewrite the BiLine, first proposed the idea of polyamory protections to West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers in early 2025.

Fialho told the Los Angeles Times that “this law is just the beginning.”

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

The ordinance allows three or more individuals to formally register their relationship with the city by submitting paperwork to the city clerk. To qualify, participants must satisfy several conditions, including mutual consent and the absence of blood relations.

The measure also extends certain legal protections to registered partners, requiring healthcare facilities and city-operated jails to recognize their visitation rights. Additionally, it provides housing protections by preventing landlords from terminating or refusing to renew a lease when a partner remains in the rental property.

Registration is not limited to city residents, meaning people who live elsewhere can also have their relationships officially recognized under the ordinance.

Back in March, WeHo City Council voted unanimously to advance a plan allowing multi-partner partnerships to be legally recognized, according to the Los Angeles Times.

By that point, officials had already approved an anti-discrimination ordinance adding “family or relationship structure” as a protected class.

The measure intended to shield people in polyamorous and other nontraditional households from discrimination in housing, healthcare and education.

West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers, who introduced the measure, called the protections “long overdue,” saying they come as rising costs and broader pressures affect access to services.

Meanwhile, by March, the WeHo City Council had also created a task force to determine how a multi-partner domestic partnership registry would actually function.

Fialho previously told the LA Times that she introduced the idea of polyamory protections to Byers last year.

“Cities are realizing families come in many forms and that they should protect, not police those relationships,” she said.

The ordinance could have implications for residents like Megan Katz, a 51-year-old West Hollywood librarian who told the LA Times in March that she has two children with her “nesting partner” and another partner with whom she does not live.

While she hasn’t experienced prejudice at work or in her neighborhood, she said she knows others who have, adding she fears her kids could be ostracized or face discrimination because of her arrangement.

“I do have some consternation,” Katz said. “Once you’re out, you can’t put that cat back in the bag. You can’t unring that bell.”

Some Massachusetts municipalities already recognize multi-partner domestic partnerships, and cities like Berkeley and Oakland have taken steps to ban discrimination based on family structure.

The idea isn’t without critics, who have raised concerns about the broader implications of recognizing polyamorous relationships.

As Berkeley and Oakland prepared to pass their laws, the California Family Council, a conservative religious advocacy group, spoke out against them and described support for polyamorous relationships as “cultural suicide.”

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