West Hollywood has taken a significant step toward recognizing multi-partner relationships, with city officials unanimously approving an ordinance allowing throuples, foursomes and other committed partnerships to register as domestic partners.
The Los Angeles County city approved the measure Tuesday. Under the new rules, relationships involving three or more consenting adults can be formally recorded through the city’s domestic partnership registry.
The ordinance, introduced by Mayor John Heilman, provides registered partners with limited protections, including hospital visitation rights and safeguards for tenants.
However, the measure does not place polyamorous partnerships on the same legal footing as marriages or conventional two-person domestic partnerships.
To register, applicants must submit documentation to the city clerk and satisfy requirements that include mutual consent and having no biological relationship to one another.
Healthcare facilities and city-run jails will be required to honor visitation rights for registered partners, according to the California Post.
The rules also prevent landlords from ending a tenancy or declining to renew a lease solely because a registered partner continues living in the rental home.
Applicants do not have to reside in West Hollywood to use the system, meaning people from outside the city can also seek registration.
West Hollywood has approved legal recognition for throuples, foursomes and other committed multi-partner relationships (stock image)
People seeking recognition do not need to live in West Hollywood because the registry is open to nonresidents (stock image)
The decision follows months of work by West Hollywood officials to broaden protections for nontraditional relationships
Christina Fialho, an attorney and founder of the bisexual media representation advocacy organization Rewrite the BiLine, first brought the proposal to West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers in early 2025.
Fialho welcomed the city’s decision, telling the Los Angeles Times that the ordinance represented only a first step.
‘This law is just the beginning,’ she said. ‘It makes it possible for people to imagine a future they may once have believed was unattainable.’
Tuesday’s vote capped months of action by city leaders seeking to expand official recognition for families and relationships that fall outside the traditional model.
In March, the City Council unanimously moved forward with plans for a domestic partnership registry covering relationships involving multiple partners.
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Earlier, officials had adopted an anti-discrimination measure that added ‘family or relationship structure’ to the city’s list of protected categories. The provision was designed to shield people in polyamorous and other nontraditional households from unequal treatment.
The council also created a task force to work out the practical details of administering the registry.
Byers, who sponsored the earlier protections, called the changes ‘long overdue,’ pointing to rising living costs and growing obstacles to essential services.
Attorney Christina Fialho, founder of Rewrite the BiLine, first presented the proposal to West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers in early 2025
West Hollywood’s City Council unanimously advanced plans for a multi-partner domestic partnership registry in March (stock image)
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Fialho previously told The Times that municipalities were increasingly acknowledging relationships beyond the traditional couple.
‘Cities are recognizing that families can take many forms and that their role should be to protect those relationships, not police them,’ she said.
One potential beneficiary is Megan Katz, a 51-year-old West Hollywood librarian who has two children with her ‘nesting partner.’ That partner also maintains a relationship with someone who lives elsewhere.
Katz told the outlet in March that while she had not personally encountered discrimination at work or in her neighborhood, she was aware of others who had faced it.
She said she was also worried that her children might encounter prejudice or social exclusion because of their family structure.
‘I do have some concerns,’ Katz said. ‘Once you’re out, you can’t put that cat back in the bag. You can’t unring that bell.’
The ordinance comes after a Democratic wave in which the party won majorities in both chambers of Congress, along with a majority of governorships nationwide, following Tuesday’s historic election.
Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts, became the first US cities to allow registration for multi-partner relationships several years ago.