Natasha Aggarwal LL. While polyamorous relationships come in a wide variety of forms, at their core is the idea that people should be able to choose how they shape their families, including how many consenting adults they wish to be included.
These types of relationships are becoming increasingly common, according to PLAC, which notes that 4 to 5 percent of people in the U. Polyamory stands out from other such relationships, PLAC explains, because polyamorists tend to be open to falling in love with more than one person. Polyamory is different than polygamy, in which one husband has multiple wives β a practice frowned upon as patriarchal and one-sided by many polyamory advocates.
Yet despite the emphasis on love among its adherents, polyamorous relationships have few legal protections and people and families face discrimination in such basic needs as jobs, housing, and obtaining health insurance for more than one partner. Formed as a coalition of academic and legal professionals, PLAC works to advance the civil and human rights of polyamorous people, communities, and families through legislative advocacy, public policy, and public education. Now, after years of stasis in the movement for rights, the past year has seen unprecedented success.
In and , three Boston-area municipalities β the city of Somerville followed by Cambridge, and the town of Arlington β became the first in the country to extend the legal definition of domestic partnerships to include polyamorous relationships. PLAC worked on both the Cambridge and Arlington efforts, and is now working with advocates in California on domestic partnerships and non-discrimination legislation. With the help of HLS clinical students, PLAC lent its expertise to advocates in Cambridge as they worked to extend domestic partnerships to include polyamorous relationships and families.
A number of residents came forward in support, not just those in polyamorous relationships but their allies, Sobrinho-Wheeler says.
