This week, polyamory moved closer to real legal protection. At least half a dozen US cities widened their civil-rights laws this year to cover multi-partner relationships, West Hollywood unanimously advanced a multi-partner registry on first reading, and Scottish Greens will debate poly recognition this weekend. We also listened to a swinging couple sit down with their adult daughters.
Which cities protect polyamorous people under civil-rights law?
Bloomberg Law reported on Oct 21 that at least half a dozen cities enacted measures this year that broaden their anti-discrimination ordinances, employment included, to cover diverse sexualities and relationship structures. Seattle's ordinance is the most recent. It extends sexual orientation to cover pansexuality, asexuality, and "actual or perceived consensual relationships involving multiple partners such as non-monogamous relationships." In April, Portland, Oregon redefined family-status discrimination to include multi-partner and non-monogamous households. New York City is considering a similar measure, and a statewide proposal is in the works for Oregon's 2027 legislative session. The article also points out that employers will need to keep up with these local rules.
Closer to home for longtime readers: on Oct 19, the West Hollywood City Council unanimously moved its multi-partner domestic relationship registry ordinance forward on the consent calendar (Beverly Press has it too). That was the first step, not final enactment. The ordinance still has to finish the adoption process before it takes effect, and a hearing on the registration fee comes after adoption. As proposed, it covers hospital and jail visitation and some tenant protections. It does not make these relationships equal to marriage. We previewed the registry in last Friday's WeHo registry roundup.
Our take: not getting fired or evicted over who you love, and being allowed into the hospital room, are real, practical wins. They aren't marriage rights, and nobody should oversell them. Still, for a lot of folks in our community, this is the stuff that actually keeps them up at night.
Will Scotland recognize polyamorous relationships?
Not yet, and maybe not soon. The Scotsman reports that a motion backed by the Greens of Colour Committee will be debated at the Scottish Green Party's autumn conference at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness this Saturday and Sunday. It says poly relationships are growing in Scotland but have no recognition, which can keep people from visiting partners during serious illness or from being named in official documents. It calls for mortgages, benefits and pensions, healthcare access, inheritance, and immigration and asylum rules to account for multiple partners, along with equality protections in employment, property, healthcare, and harassment law. The Scottish Conservatives called it "bizarre political navel-gazing." This is a party motion up for debate, not a law or a government bill.
Our take: whatever you think of the politics, the hospital-visit problem is the same one WeHo is trying to solve locally. When the same pain point shows up on both sides of the Atlantic, it's worth paying attention. We're not predicting how the vote goes.
Should swingers tell their adult kids about the lifestyle?
On Two Plus Two Podcast Ep 80, "We Told Our Kids We're Swingers… and They Had Questions", Zack and Josie sit down with their adult daughters to talk openly about swinging. The daughters talk about what they believed, what they knew about their parents' past, and why they were surprised Zack and Josie came back to the lifestyle after it went badly the first time. The episode also gets into being a grandparent in the lifestyle, consent, STI testing, and "pulling the rip cord," plus listener questions from the show's Peaches'nCream group.
Our take: there's no one right answer to whether you tell your grown kids. It depends on your family, your agreements, and what you're both comfortable with. But honesty with clear boundaries usually ages better than keeping secrets by default. It's the same reason we liked real people talking openly in our take on Pam Andrews' open marriage.
Want more of us talking through stuff like this? Catch every episode on The Swing Nation show page or listen on Apple Podcasts.