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Progressive Officials Contemplate Expanding What Constitutes A ‘Domestic Partnership’

Progressive Officials Contemplate Expanding What Constitutes A ‘Domestic Partnership’

A simple question raised during a city council discussion in Somerville, Massachusetts, six years ago now sits at the center of a growing debate about the legal recognition of polyamorous relationships.

The question came from Somerville City Council member J.T. Scott during deliberations over a domestic partnership ordinance. The draft language defined a domestic partnership as a legal relationship “between two people.” During the meeting, councilor Lance L. Davis paused over that wording, saying something about it felt incomplete. Scott responded with a question that would ultimately reshape the ordinance: “Why only two?”

Davis proposed several revisions to the language, adjusting the ordinance to allow more than two adults to register together in a domestic partnership. The Somerville City Council passed the revised ordinance unanimously in an 11–0 vote. Then-Mayor Joe Curtatone signed it into law on June 29, 2020, making Somerville the first city in the United States to formally recognize multi-partner domestic partnerships, according to the Harvard Law Review.

Other municipalities soon followed.

Cambridge, Massachusetts amended its domestic partnership law in 2021 to include two or more people in a legally recognized partnership. That same year, Arlington adopted similar policies. Advocacy groups played a direct role in shaping the legislation. The Polyamory Legal Advocacy Coalition (PLAC), for example, provided detailed input to Cambridge officials as they drafted their ordinance, describing the measure as an early step in what advocates hoped would become broader recognition of polyamorous families.


The movement quickly expanded beyond domestic partnership registries. Cities began exploring anti-discrimination protections for people in non-monogamous relationships.

Somerville passed a non-discrimination ordinance in 2023 prohibiting discrimination based on “family or relationship structure.” Reports indicate the measure was drafted with assistance from PLAC, which has received support from organizations including the American Psychological Association’s Division 44 Committee on Consensual Non-Monogamy, the Chosen Family Law Center, and the Harvard Law School LGBTQ+ Advocacy Clinic.

Cambridge adopted a similar ordinance later that year, and cities on the West Coast soon took notice. Oakland and Berkeley enacted comparable policies, while Olympia, Washington followed with its own protections. More recently, the Portland City Council in Oregon advanced an anti-discrimination ordinance addressing polyamory, and similar proposals are being discussed in cities such as Seattle, Astoria, and West Hollywood.

Legal scholars and policy analysts see these developments as part of a broader strategic approach. Roger Severino, vice president of economic and domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation, argues that polyamory advocates are pursuing legal recognition through a gradual process that mirrors earlier campaigns for same-sex marriage rights.

According to Severino, advocates are attempting to establish polyamory as a protected category under local anti-discrimination laws before expanding recognition at the state level and eventually seeking national legal recognition.

This strategy, he warns, could eventually create pressure on courts to extend recognition across state lines under the Constitution’s Full Faith and Credit Clause. In response, Severino has proposed federal legislation he calls the “Defense of Monogamous Marriage Act,” which would define marriage as a legal union between two people.


Beyond legal debates, the cultural conversation around polyamory has grown more visible in recent years. Major media outlets have increasingly published articles exploring or discussing non-monogamous relationships. Publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker, and others have featured stories examining the rise of polyamory, often framing it as part of broader shifts in attitudes toward relationships and marriage.

Despite that media attention, the actual prevalence of polyamorous relationships remains difficult to measure. Surveys suggest growing openness to the concept among younger Americans. A 2023 Pew Research Center poll found that 51 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 believe an open marriage can be an acceptable arrangement for couples.

At the same time, marriage trends indicate that traditional monogamous relationships still dominate in practice. Studies from organizations like the Institute for Family Studies suggest that marriage rates remain relatively high among college-educated individuals, even among groups that express greater openness to alternative relationship structures.

Written by Mark Stevens - March 16, 2026