Judge Rules Polyamorous Relationships Are Entitled To Same Protections As Two-Person Relationships

A judge in New York City has ruled that polyamorous relationships are entitled to the same legal protections as two-person relationships.

In New York City’s eviction court, Civil Court Judge Karen May Bacdayan made the ruling in the case of West 49th St., LLC v. O’Neill.

The case involved Scott Anderson and Markyus O’Neill, who lived together. It also involved Anderson’s husband, Robert Romano, who did not live with the two. 

According to LGBTQ Nation, when Anderson, who held the lease to the apartment, passed away, the building owner would not allow O’Neill to renew the lease, citing that O’Neill was not “a non-traditional family member.” 

Facing eviction, O’Neill took the matter to court. 

Definition Of Family Has Changed, Rules Judge

Bacdayan, in her ruling, cited the 1989 case of Braschi v. Stahl Assocs. Co. which ruled that two-person same-sex relationships are entitled to legal recognition.

She also cited the 2015 case of Obergefell v Hodges, the Supreme Court ruling that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right.

In her opinion, she wrote that despite these groundbreaking cases,“What was ‘normal’ or ‘nontraditional’ in 1989 is not a barometer for what is normal or nontraditional now. Indeed, the definition of ‘family’ has morphed considerably since 1989.” 

She continued, “the problem with Braschi and Obergefell is that they recognize only two-person relationships. Those decisions, while revolutionary, still adhered to the majoritarian, societal view that only two people can have a family-like relationship; that only people who are “committed” in a way defined by certain traditional factors qualify for protection from “one of the harshest decrees known to the law—eviction from one’s home.”