In a unanimous vote, a Los Angeles County city council has extended domestic partnership protections to polyamorous relationships — meaning throuples, foursomes, and other multi-partner households can now register as legal domestic partners, complete with the rights and recognitions that come with it.
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 legal rights, including hospital visitation and additional tenant protections.
The California Family Council, a conservative religious advocacy group, spoke out against the ordinance and described support for polyamorous relationships as “cultural suicide.”
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NY Post report: Supporters of the new ordinance say it marks an important step toward addressing challenges faced by adults who maintain romantic or other committed relationships with multiple people.
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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.
