ABSTRACT
The marriage equality controversy in California, recently culminating in the passage of Proposition 8, was notably silent on the topic of nonmonogamy. Conservatives voiced concerns about a potential ‘slippery slope,’ leading from same-sex relationships to group marriages (Excerpt from Santorum Interview, 2003), and same-sex marriage proponents also expressed antagonism to, and dissociation from, legal recognition for nonmonogamies (oral arguments in re Marriage Cases, 2008). However, the Californian polyamorous community has not actively participated in the debate, nor sought legal status for nonmonogamous relationships, which is intriguing given its profi le. In the San Francisco Bay Area, characterized as open and progressive, polyamorous people enjoy a web of activist organizations, workshops, conferences, publications and social gatherings. The community bridges between radical politics and sex-positive ideologies and marches every year in the San Francisco Gay Pride March, sharing a truck with the bisexual contingent. None of this activist energy, however, is devoted to legal change.
