Editing Polyamory (section)

==Legal issues==

===Parenting===

==== Canada ====
In June 2018, a court in [[Newfoundland and Labrador]] recognized three unmarried adults as legal parents of a child who was born within the polyamorous family they had formed; this was believed to be a first for Canadian law. The three adults included the child's mother and two men; the child's biological father was unknown.<ref>{{cite web |last=MacDonald |first=Michael |date=June 14, 2018 |title=3 adults in polyamorous relationship declared legal parents by N. L. court |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/polyamourous-relationship-three-parents-1.4706560 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224192515/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/polyamourous-relationship-three-parents-1.4706560 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |website=[[CBC News]]}}</ref>

In April 2021, a British Columbia Supreme Court justice declared a woman was the third legal parent in a polyamorous "triad".<ref name="Labbé 2021">{{cite web |last=Labbé |first=Stefan |date=2021-04-28 |title=B.C. judge declares woman third legal parent in polyamorous 'triad' |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-judge-declares-woman-third-legal-parent-in-polyamorous-triad-1.24312700 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210828060212/https://www.timescolonist.com/news/local/b-c-judge-declares-woman-third-legal-parent-in-polyamorous-triad-1.24312700 |archive-date=August 28, 2021 |access-date=2021-08-28 |website=Times Colonist}}</ref>

In April 2025, the [[Superior Court of Quebec]] ruled that the province must recognize families with more than two parents. The court gave the provincial government one year to amend the [[Civil Code of Quebec|Civil Code]], and listed court rulings in five provinces and territories as precedent.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lau |first=Rachel |date=2025-04-30 |title=‘Multi-parent’ families, like throuples, to be granted legal rights in Quebec |url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/article/multiparent-families-like-throuples-to-be-granted-legal-rights-in-quebec/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=CTVNews |language=en}}</ref>

==== United States ====
In 1998, a [[Tennessee]] court granted guardianship of a child to her grandmother and step-grandfather, after the child's mother April Divilbiss and partners [[outing|outed]] themselves as polyamorous on [[MTV]]. After contesting the decision for two years, Divilbiss eventually agreed to relinquish her daughter, acknowledging that she was unable to adequately care for her child and that this, rather than her polyamory, had been the grandparents' real motivation in seeking custody.<ref name="society">{{cite web |url=http://www.polyamorysociety.org/Divilbiss_Families_Case_Ends.html |title=PolyFamily Child Custody Case Ends After 2 Year Battle... |last=Divilbiss |first=April |date=October 2000 |website=Polyamory Society |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050826112228/http://www.polyamorysociety.org/Divilbiss_Families_Case_Ends.html |archive-date=August 26, 2005 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2013, California passed SB 274 (Family Code §7612(c)), legalizing state courts' recognition of more than two parents if the court finds that recognizing only two parents would be detrimental to the child.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-11-17 |title=Boyd Law Successfully Achieves One of California’s First Rulings Under New “Three Parent Law” |url=https://www.boydlawlosangeles.com/boyd-law-successfully-achieves-one-of-californias-first-rulings-under-new-three-parent-law/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=Boyd Law |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=California’s Three Parent Law {{!}} Family Law {{!}} Sacramento Law Group LLP |url=https://sacramentolawgroup.com/divorce-attorney/three-parents/ |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=sacramentolawgroup.com}}</ref> In 2017, three men became the first family in the state of [[California]] to have names of three fathers on their child's birth certificate under the law.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poly-relationship-adoption-embryo-surrogate_n_5fc92247c5b6d7412e5f4026 |title=This Throuple Made History With Their First Child. Here's What Their Lives Are Like. |last=Feldman |first=Jamie |date=December 23, 2020 |website=[[HuffPost]] |access-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210302022803/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poly-relationship-adoption-embryo-surrogate_n_5fc92247c5b6d7412e5f4026 |archive-date=March 2, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2020, the issue of polyamory came to the [[Supreme Court of Vermont]] in the form of a dispute between two men and a woman in a polyamorous relationship.<ref>{{cite web |author= |date=November 6, 2020 |title=SCOV Law Blog: Court decides parentage issue in divorce involving polyamory |url=https://vtdigger.org/2020/11/06/scov-law-blog-court-decides-parentage-issue-in-divorce-involving-polyamory/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201124145223/https://vtdigger.org/2020/11/06/scov-law-blog-court-decides-parentage-issue-in-divorce-involving-polyamory/ |archive-date=November 24, 2020 |access-date=December 14, 2020 |website=[[VTDigger]]}}</ref>

===Domestic partnerships===
In 2016, writer [[Rebecca Ruth Gould]] called for [[non-monogamy]], including polyamory, to receive "the legal recognition it deserves", saying that polyamory remains a "negative identity".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/rebecca-gould/love-without-monogamy |title=Love Without Monogamy |last=Gould |first=Rebecca Ruth |date=August 15, 2016 |website=[[OpenDemocracy]] |access-date=December 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829051151/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/transformation/love-without-monogamy/ |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In June 2020, the city council of [[Somerville, Massachusetts]], voted to recognize polyamorous domestic partnerships in the city, becoming the first American city to do so. This measure was passed so that those in a polyamorous relationship would have access to their partners' health insurance amid the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.masslive.com/boston/2020/07/somerville-city-council-passes-ordinance-recognizing-polyamorous-domestic-partnerships.html|last=Stening|first=Tanner|title=Somerville City Council passes ordinance recognizing polyamorous domestic partnerships|date=July 1, 2020|website=masslive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200702030919/https://www.masslive.com/boston/2020/07/somerville-city-council-passes-ordinance-recognizing-polyamorous-domestic-partnerships.html|archive-date=July 2, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20200701/somerville-votes-to-recognize-polyamorous-domestic-partnerships-it-is-one-of-first-in-nation|title=Somerville votes to recognize polyamorous domestic partnerships. It is one of the first in nation.|first=Julia|last=Taliesin|website=MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701205132/https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20200701/somerville-votes-to-recognize-polyamorous-domestic-partnerships-it-is-one-of-first-in-nation|archive-date=July 1, 2020|url-status=live|access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/somerville-massachusetts-recognizes-polyamorous-relationships/ |title=Massachusetts city officially recognizes polyamorous relationships |last=McNamara |first=Audrey |date=July 3, 2020 |website=[[CBS News]] |access-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107032850/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/somerville-massachusetts-recognizes-polyamorous-relationships/ |archive-date=November 7, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/metro/somervilles-polyamory-ordinance-is-first-nation/ |title=Somerville's new polyamory-friendly policy a 'turning point' |last=Greenberg |first=Zoe |date=July 2, 2020 |website=[[Boston Globe]] |access-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025002452/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/02/metro/somervilles-polyamory-ordinance-is-first-nation/ |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In March 2021, the [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] City Council approved an ordinance amending the city's laws, stipulating that "a domestic partnership needn't only include two partners."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://reason.com/2021/03/10/cambridge-will-recognize-polyamorous-partnerships-and-other-domestic-arrangements-with-more-than-2-adults/ |title=Cambridge Will Recognize Polyamorous Partnerships and Other Domestic Arrangements With More Than 2 Adults |last=Brown |first=Elizabeth Nolan |date=March 10, 2021 |website=[[Reason.com]] |access-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310210412/https://reason.com/2021/03/10/cambridge-will-recognize-polyamorous-partnerships-and-other-domestic-arrangements-with-more-than-2-adults/ |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://rwinters.com/council/030821.htm |title=Cambridge City Council meeting - March 8, 2021 - AGENDA |author= |date=March 8, 2021 |website=Cambridge Civic Journal |access-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210310150749/http://rwinters.com/council/030821.htm |archive-date=March 10, 2021 |url-status=live}} This is a publication run by a man named Robert Winters, who is a civic watcher of the Cambridge, MA government.</ref><ref>{{cite press release |last1=Adams |first1=Diana |last2=Chen |first2=Alexander |date=March 9, 2021 |title=Cambridge Becomes 2nd US City to Legalize Polyamorous Domestic Partnerships |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/602abeb0ede5cc16ae72cc3a/t/604747971135b1744e8a4002/1615284120965/2021-03-08+PLAC+Press+Release.pdf |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition |agency= |access-date=March 13, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309192938/https://static1.squarespace.com/static/602abeb0ede5cc16ae72cc3a/t/604747971135b1744e8a4002/1615284120965/2021-03-08+PLAC+Press+Release.pdf |archive-date=March 9, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> The measure was supported by the Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition, also known as PLAC, composed of the Chosen Family Law Center, Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic, and some members on the [[American Psychological Association]]'s Committee on Consensual Non-Monogamy. This ordinance was originally proposed in July 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cambridgeday.com/2020/07/28/law-acknowledging-polyamorous-relationships-takes-step-forward-two-councillors-holding-back/ |title=Law acknowledging polyamorous relationships takes step forward, two councillors holding back |last=Levy |first=Marc |date=July 28, 2020 |website=Cambridge Day |access-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101074216/https://www.cambridgeday.com/2020/07/28/law-acknowledging-polyamorous-relationships-takes-step-forward-two-councillors-holding-back/ |archive-date=November 1, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=2656&MediaPosition=&ID=12316&CssClass= |title=POR 2020 #180 The City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the City of Cambridge Law Department to review the above changes to the language of the Domestic Partnerships Ordinance and report back to the Council. Passed to a Second Reading in Council July 27, 2020. To Be Ordained on or After September 14, 2020 |date=2020 |website=[[Cambridge, Massachusetts]] |access-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-date=December 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214222512/https://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/Detail_LegiFile.aspx?Frame=&MeetingID=2656&MediaPosition=&ID=12316&CssClass= |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2021, the adjacent town of [[Arlington, Massachusetts]], approved domestic partnerships of more than two people through a motion at Town Meeting. Any motion approved at Arlington's Town Meeting is subject to review and approval from the state Attorney General's office;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/arlington-advocate/2021/04/30/arlington-approves-domestic-partnerships-polyamorous-relationships/7410640002/|title=Town Meeting approves domestic partnership for relationships with more than two people|first=Jesse|last=Collings|website=Wicked Local|access-date=May 13, 2021|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513163139/https://www.wickedlocal.com/story/arlington-advocate/2021/04/30/arlington-approves-domestic-partnerships-polyamorous-relationships/7410640002/|url-status=live}}</ref> by early January 2022 that office (the office of [[Maura Healey]]) approved it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://masslawyersweekly.com/2022/01/06/ag-upholds-towns-recognition-of-polyamorous-relationships/|title=AG upholds town's recognition of 'polyamorous' relationships &#124; Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly|first=Pat|last=Murphy|date=January 6, 2022|access-date=December 25, 2022|archive-date=December 25, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225210954/https://masslawyersweekly.com/2022/01/06/ag-upholds-towns-recognition-of-polyamorous-relationships/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Anti-discrimination law===
People in polyamorous relationships sometimes receive punishment at work when they are open about their relationships.<ref name="Goldstein">{{cite news |title=Somerville celebrates another first for polyamorous people |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/23/lifestyle/somerville-celebrates-another-first-polyamorous-people/ |author=Meredith Goldstein |date=March 23, 2023 |newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]] |access-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-date=March 24, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230324234803/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03/23/lifestyle/somerville-celebrates-another-first-polyamorous-people/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2010, Ann Tweedy, a legal scholar, argued that polyamory could be considered a sexual orientation under existing [[Law of the United States|United States law]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tweedy |first1=Ann |date=October 2011 |title=Polyamory as a sexual orientation |url=https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=uclr |journal=University of Cincinnati Law Review |volume=79 |issue=4 |pages=1461–1515 |access-date=December 23, 2020 |archive-date=August 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200824042848/https://scholarship.law.uc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=uclr |url-status=live }}</ref> This argument was opposed by Christian Keese, who wrote in 2016 that advocating a "sexual orientation model of polyamory is likely to reduce the complexity and transformative potential of poly intimacies," while also limiting the reach and scope of possible litigation, obstructing the ability of poly activists to form alliances with other groups, and increasing the possibility that poly activists will have to settle for legal solutions which are "exclusive and reproductive of a culture of privilege".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Keese |first1=Christian |date=2016 |title=Marriage, Law and Polyamory. Rebutting Mononormativity with Sexual Orientation Discourse? |url=http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/viewFile/734/960 |journal=Oñati Socio-legal Series |volume=6 |issue=6 |page=1348 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=April 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422221600/http://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/viewFile/734/960 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2023, the city of [[Somerville, Massachusetts]] passed an ordinance prohibiting discrimination against polyamorous people in employment and policing.<ref name="Goldstein" />

In April 2024, [[Oakland City Council]] passed legislation banning discrimination based on family and relationship structure in businesses, civil services, and housing.<ref name="McClurg 2024">{{cite news |last=McClurg |first=Lesley |title=Polyamorous families are recognized and protected in Oakland, CA |website=NPR |date=2024-05-31 |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/05/31/nx-s1-4966296/polyamorous-families-are-recognized-and-protected-in-oakland-ca |access-date=2024-06-01}}</ref>

In May 2024, [[Berkeley, California]] passed a law banning discrimination on the basis of relationship and family structure in businesses, city services, and housing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.berkeleyside.org/2024/05/22/berkeley-law-antidiscrimination-relationship-family-structure-polyamory|title=Berkeley law extends legal protections to polyamorous people and non-nuclear families|first=Ally|last=Markovich|date=May 22, 2024|website=Berkeleyside}}</ref>

===Marriage implications===
{{See also|Group marriage|Legality of polygamy|List of polygamy court cases}}

Most [[Western world|western]] countries do not recognize [[polygamous]] marriages, and consider [[bigamy#Legal situation|bigamy a crime]]. Several countries also prohibit people from living a polygamous lifestyle. This is the case in some states of the United States where [[Legality of polygamy in the United States|the criminalization of a polygamous lifestyle]] originated as [[Anti-Mormonism|anti-Mormon]] laws, although they are rarely enforced.<ref>{{cite news |url = https://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm |last= Turley |first = Jonathan |title = Polygamy laws expose our own hypocrisy |newspaper = [[USA Today]] |date = 3 October 2004 |access-date = December 24, 2020 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120722135630/http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/columnist/2004-10-03-turley_x.htm |archive-date = 22 July 2012 }}</ref> Having multiple non-marital partners, even if married to one, is legal in most U.S. jurisdictions; at most it constitutes grounds for [[divorce]] if the spouse is non-consenting, or feels that the interest in a further partner has destabilized the marriage. In some jurisdictions, like [[North Carolina]], a spouse can sue a third party for causing "loss of affection" in or "criminal conversation" ([[adultery]]) with their spouse,<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Ruby Deaton Pharr, v. Joyce W. Beck |vol=554 |reporter=S.E.2d |opinion=COA01-3 |court=North Carolina Court of Appeals |date=November 20, 2001 |url=https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1323723/pharr-v-beck/ |access-date=December 24, 2020 }}</ref> while more than twenty states in the US have laws against adultery, although they are infrequently enforced; the Supreme Court's ruling in ''[[Lawrence v. Texas]]'' did not explicitly hold such laws to be unconstitutional but its [[ratio decidendi|reasoning]] may imply that conclusion.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/punishing-adultery-in-virginia.html |title=Punishing Adultery in Virginia |last=Grossman |first=Joanna |date=December 16, 2003 |website=[[Findlaw]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181127111953/https://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/punishing-adultery-in-virginia.html |archive-date=November 27, 2018 |access-date=December 24, 2020}}</ref>

Polyamory, however, is on a continuum of family-bonds that includes group marriage<ref>{{cite book |last1=Francoeur |first1=Robert T. |year=2004 |chapter=United States: Interpersonal Heterosexual Behaviors |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dciuj1-F3fYC&pg=PA1205 |editor1-last=Francoeur |editor1-first=Robert T. |editor2-last=Noonan |editor2-first=Raymond J. |title=[[International Encyclopedia of Sexuality|The Continuum Complete International Encyclopedia of Sexuality]] |location=London |publisher=A&C Black |pages=1205–1206 |isbn=9780826414885 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310100816/https://books.google.com/books?id=dciuj1-F3fYC&pg=PA1205 |url-status=live }}</ref> and it does not refer to [[bigamy]] as long as no claim to being married in formal legal terms is made.<ref>{{cite book |last=Constantine |first=Larry L. |title=Group Marriage: A Study of Contemporary Multilateral Marriage |year=1974 |publisher=Collier Books |isbn=978-0020759102 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N0ZBAAAAIAAJ |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310100804/https://books.google.com/books?id=N0ZBAAAAIAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/polyamorous-families-legal-challenges-1.3758621 |title=Canadian polyamorists face unique legal challenges, research reveals |last=Crawford |first=Alison |date=September 14, 2016 |website=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224191147/https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/polyamorous-families-legal-challenges-1.3758621 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia'' (2014, edited by Marilyn J. Coleman and Lawrence H. Ganong) stated that under existing U.S. federal law, a polyamorous relationship is legal in all 50 states while polygamy is not.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martinez |first1=Michelle |year=2014 |chapter=Polygamy |editor1-last=Ganong |editor1-first=Lawrence H. |editor2-last=Coleman |editor2-first=Marilyn J. |title=The Social History of the American Family: An Encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R3VpBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1048 |location=[[Thousand Oaks, California]] |publisher=[[SAGE Publishing|SAGE Publications]] |page=1048 |isbn=978-1452286150 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310100814/https://books.google.com/books?id=R3VpBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA1048 |url-status=live }}</ref> On November 23, 2011, the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled that the anti-polygamy law of Canada does not affect unformalized polyamorous households; this is why Polyamory Day is celebrated every year on November 23.<ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=http://polyadvocacy.ca/polyamory-day-faq/|title=Polyamory Day - Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association|access-date=December 26, 2020|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122225910/http://polyadvocacy.ca/polyamory-day-faq/|url-status=live}}</ref> Even so, those in polyamorous relationships often face legal challenges when it comes to custody, morality clauses, adultery and bigamy laws, housing, and where they live.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/201401/the-five-most-common-legal-issues-facing-polyamorists |title=The Five Most Common Legal Issues Facing Polyamorists |last=Sheff |first=Elisabeth A. |date=January 18, 2014 |website=[[Psychology Today]] |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20201224191956/https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-polyamorists-next-door/201401/the-five-most-common-legal-issues-facing-polyamorists |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2012, legal scholar Deborah Anapol called for the revision of existing U.S. laws against bigamy to permit married persons to enter into additional marriages, provided that they have first given legal notice to their existing marital partner or partners, with a "dyadic networks" model.<ref>{{cite book |last=Anapol |first=Deborah |url=https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442200227/Polyamory-in-the-21st-Century-Love-and-Intimacy-with-Multiple-Partners |title=''Polyamory in the 21st Century: Love and Intimacy with Multiple Partners'' |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |year=2012 |isbn=9781442200227 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926084419/https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442200227/Polyamory-in-the-21st-Century-Love-and-Intimacy-with-Multiple-Partners |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2015, another legal scholar, Ronald C. Den Otter, wrote in the ''Emory Law Journal'' (in the article "Three May Not Be a Crowd: The Case for a Constitutional Right to Plural Marriage") that in the United States the constitutional rights of [[due process]] and [[equal protection]] fully support marriage rights for polyamorous families.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Den Otter|first1=Ron|title=Three May Not Be a Crowd: The Case for a Constitutional Right to Plural Marriage|url= https://scholarlycommons.law.emory.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1200&context=elj|access-date=June 27, 2015|journal=Emory Law Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630022240/http://law.emory.edu/elj/_documents/volumes/64/6/den-otter.pdf|archive-date=June 30, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

During a [[PinkNews]] question-and-answer session in May 2015, Redfern Jon Barrett questioned [[Natalie Bennett]], leader of the [[Green Party of England and Wales]], about her party's stance toward polyamorous marriage rights. Bennett responded by saying that her party is "open" to discussion on the idea of civil partnership or marriages between three people.<ref>{{cite news|last1=McCormick|first1=Joseph|title=Natalie Bennett is 'open' to polyamorous marriages and civil partnerships|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/01/natalie-bennett-is-open-to-polyamorous-marriages-and-civil-partnerships/|access-date=20 June 2015|work=[[PinkNews]]|date=May 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150620162802/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/01/natalie-bennett-is-open-to-polyamorous-marriages-and-civil-partnerships/|archive-date=June 20, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Bennett's announcement aroused media controversy on the topic and led to major international news outlets covering her answer.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Holehouse|first1=Matthew|title=Greens 'open' to three-person marriage, says Natalie Bennett|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11576818/Greens-open-to-three-person-marriage-says-Natalie-Bennett.html|access-date=June 20, 2015|work=[[Daily Telegraph]]|date=May 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180316055039/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/11576818/Greens-open-to-three-person-marriage-says-Natalie-Bennett.html|archive-date=March 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Ashton|first1=Emily|title=The Green Party Is "Open" To Legalizing Three-Way Marriages|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/the-green-party-is-open-to-legalising-three-way-marriages|access-date=20 June 2015|work=[[BuzzFeed]]|date=May 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224134246/https://www.buzzfeed.com/emilyashton/the-green-party-is-open-to-legalising-three-way-marriages|archive-date=December 24, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> A follow-up article written by Barrett was published by PinkNews on May 4, 2015, further exploring the topic.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Barrett|first1=Redfern|title=Comment: Why polyamorous marriages are the next step to equality|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/04/comment-why-polyamorous-marriages-are-the-next-step-to-equality/|access-date=June 20, 2015|work=[[PinkNews]]|date=May 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702191101/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2015/05/04/comment-why-polyamorous-marriages-are-the-next-step-to-equality/|archive-date=July 2, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> 
In most countries, it is legal for three or more people to form and share a sexual relationship (subject sometimes to laws against [[homosexuality]] or [[adultery]] if two of the three are married). With only minor exceptions no developed countries permit ''marriage'' among more than two people, nor do the majority of countries give legal protection (e.g., of rights relating to children) to non-married partners. Individuals involved in polyamorous relationships are generally considered by the law to be no different from people who live together, or "[[Dating|date]]", under other circumstances. In 2017, John Alejandro Rodriguez, Victor Hugo Prada, and Manuel Jose Bermudez became [[Colombia]]'s first polyamorous family to have a legally recognized relationship,<ref name="advocate1">{{cite web |last=Reynolds |first=Daniel |url=https://www.advocate.com/world/2017/6/15/three-gay-men-make-history-marrying-colombia |title=Three Gay Men Make History by Marrying in Colombia |publisher=[[The Advocate (LGBT magazine)|The Advocate]] |date=June 15, 2017 |access-date=June 16, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616012510/https://www.advocate.com/world/2017/6/15/three-gay-men-make-history-marrying-colombia |archive-date=June 16, 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref> though not a marriage, as by Colombian law, marriage is between two people, so they instead called it a "special patrimonial union".<ref name="Guard01">{{cite news|last=Brodzinski|first=Sibylla|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/03/colombia-three-men-union-alejandro-rodriguez-manuel-bermudez-victor-hugo-prada|newspaper=The Guardian|title=Colombia legally recognizes union between three men|date=July 3, 2017|access-date=September 13, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913045912/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/03/colombia-three-men-union-alejandro-rodriguez-manuel-bermudez-victor-hugo-prada|archive-date=September 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-40655103 |title=Polyamorous marriage: Is there a future for three-way weddings? |last=Taylor-Coleman |first=Jasmine |date=July 20, 2017 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201224192800/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-40655103 |archive-date=December 24, 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some have called for [[domestic partnership]] laws to be expanded to include polyamorous couples<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dryden |first1=J. Boone |date=2015 |title=This Is the Family I Chose: Broadening DomesticPartnership Law to Include Polyamory |url=https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=jplp |journal=Hamline University's School of Law's Journal of Public Law and Policy |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=162–188 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306040123/https://digitalcommons.hamline.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1014&context=jplp |url-status=live }}</ref> and have said that marriage-like entitlements should apply to such couples.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Brake |first1=Elizabeth |date=2013 |title=Recognizing Care: The Case for Friendship and Polyamory |url=https://slace.syr.edu/issue-1-2013-14-on-equality/recognizing-care-the-case-for-friendship-and-polyamory/ |journal=Syracuse Journal of Law & Civic Engagement |volume=14 |issue=1 |access-date=December 24, 2020 |archive-date=April 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408125205/https://slace.syr.edu/issue-1-2013-14-on-equality/recognizing-care-the-case-for-friendship-and-polyamory/ |url-status=live }}</ref>