1. United States
2. Mich.
3. Letter

Pass legal protections for multi-partner families at the federal level, following the lead of cities like West Hollywood, which unanimously approved a domestic partnership registry for polyamorous relationships. Without federal action, families in these relationships are forced to spend thousands of dollars on attorneys to form corporations and draft contracts just to secure rights that married couples receive automatically. The West Hollywood ordinance already shows what is possible. Partners can now register their relationships to gain hospital visitation rights and tenant protections. But those benefits stop at city limits, and multi-partner families across the country live in cities and states that offer no such protections. Legal experts note that these families are increasingly common, yet existing policy still assumes dual-income or nuclear households, leaving people without basic tools to protect shared assets or care for one another in a health crisis. Christina Fialho, the attorney who helped bring this ordinance to life, called it "just the beginning." Federal recognition would make that beginning mean something for everyone, not just residents of a handful of progressive cities.