People in polyamorous relationships will be able to register their partnerships with West Hollywood after the California city’s council unanimously approved new legal protections Monday.
The measure, which takes effect on December 2, creates a registry for relationships involving three or more adults, including throuples and groups of four or more. Registration does not create a marriage or a domestic partnership recognized under California law. The city has not yet said when registration will open.
Registered partners will receive visitation rights at health care facilities and jails within the city’s jurisdiction, subject to certain restrictions. The ordinance also extends rental protections to registered partners, including protections against eviction for adding a partner to a household.
To qualify, participants must be at least 18, consent to the relationship, share life’s necessities, and accept responsibility for one another’s welfare. They cannot be related closely enough to be barred from marrying or entering a domestic partnership under California law. People living outside of the city’s limits can also register.
The idea was first brought to West Hollywood Councilmember Chelsea Lee Byers in early 2025 by Christina Fialho, the founder of bisexual advocacy organization Rewrite the BiLine, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Fialho told the Times the 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. Earlier this year, Fialho told the Times that “cities are realizing families come in many forms and that they should protect, not police those relationships.”
The measure builds on an ordinance the council passed in March that bars discrimination based on “family or relationship structure.” At the time, Byers said the law was “frankly long overdue.”
Two Massachusetts cities, Somerville and Cambridge, previously passed similar laws allowing polyamorous relationships to register with the city.
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