New Delhi: A new unanimously passed ordinance will now allow people in polyamorous relationships to register as multi-partner domestic partners in a California city.
The measure, introduced by Mayor John Heilman, was approved by the West Hollywood City Council this week. It is set to take effect around December 2. According to the Los Angeles Times, the ordinance will enable a relationship between three or more adults to be formally registered by filing a statement with the city clerk.
Christina Fialho, an attorney and founder of the advocacy group Rewrite the BiLine, who proposed the idea to Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers in early 2025, described the ordinance as “just the beginning.”
“I think it makes it possible for people to dream about a future they once thought was out of reach,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
Requirements under the law
Applicants need to meet basic requirements, including being at least 18 years of age, sharing mutual consent and the common necessities of life, accepting responsibility for each other’s welfare, and not being closely biologically related – in a way that would bar marriage under California law.
Registration will be accessible to people who live outside of West Hollywood too, the reports said.
Registered partners will receive rights under the local ordinance, including hospital visitation privileges at healthcare facilities and visitation at jails within the city’s jurisdiction. It will also provide the partners in the relationship housing protections, such as preventing landlords from terminating or refusing to renew a lease when a registered partner continues to occupy a rental property.
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Limited Scope
The scope of the law is limited.
It does not create a legal marriage or a state-recognised domestic partnership under California or federal law, nor does it confer the full range of rights available to married couples or traditional domestic partners.
The city had previously advanced related measures, including an anti-discrimination ordinance adding “family or relationship structure” as a protected class.
In 2020, the Massachusetts cities of Somerville and Cambridge became the first to allow the registration of multi-partner relationships in the country.
Councilmember Byers has called the new protections “long overdue,” amid rising costs and broader inequalities affecting access to services.
(Edited by Maryam Hassan)