West Hollywood Approves Multipartner Relationship Registry

West Hollywood’s City Council unanimously approved an ordinance creating a local registry for relationships involving three or more people, extending registered partners certain visitation and rental protections. The ordinance is scheduled to take effect 30 days after its adoption. The registry allows eligible adults to file a relationship statement with the city clerk. Participants must consent to the relationship and cannot be related by blood in a way that would bar marriage under California law. People who live outside West Hollywood may also register. The ordinance requires healthcare facilities to allow registered partners to visit patients, subject to exceptions when visitors are generally barred. It also provides for visitation at city-operated jails, where access is subject to facility security decisions. In housing, the rules protect against a landlord terminating or refusing to renew a lease when a registered partner remains in the rental property. The local registry does not grant the legal status or full benefits of marriage or a domestic partnership registered under state law. The ordinance therefore does not itself provide benefits such as inheritance rights,...