Three gay men legally recognised as a “polyamorous family”

Colombia has for the first time legally recognised a polyamorous relationship between three gay men, known as a ‘thrupple’.

The trio, actor Victor Hugo Prada, sports instructor John Alejandro Rodriguez and journalist Manuel Jose Bermudez, “married” one another in the city of Medellin on Saturday.

According to local media, they signed papers in front of a public notary that established them as a legal family unit with inheritance rights.

“We wanted to validate our household … and our rights, because we had no solid legal basis establishing us as a family,” said Prada, reports The Telegraph.

He added: “This establishes us as a family, a polyamorous family. It is the first time in Colombia that this has been done.”

In an interview with W Radio, Prada explained that the relationship had originally included four men, one of whom, Alex Esnéider Zabala, died in 2015.

After his death, the other partners were excluded from Zabala’s estate, something which they say will now not happen again in future. “This document protects us from anyone making claims,” said Prada.

Rodríguez added: “We base our business on living together and solidarity, the three of us. There are no powers here, no roles, you have to negotiate. We are all in this with the same conditions.”

In April last year, Colombia’s Constitutional Court legalised same-sex marriage in the predominantly Catholic Latin American country. It became the fourth nation in South America to offer gay and lesbian citizens full marriage rights, after Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.