Throughout his life, Franklin \u201d\u201c now 50 and living in Portland, Oregon \u201d\u201c has never chosen one. In fact, he\u2019s never had a monogamous relationship in his life, even while he was married for 18 years. \u201cMonogamy has never connected with me, it\u2019s never made sense to me,\u201d\u009d said Franklin, who took two dates to his high school prom and lost his virginity in a threesome.<\/p>\n
Yet it wasn\u2019t until the 1990\u2019s that he found the language to describe his lifestyle. Until then, he just considered himself \u201copen\u201d\u009d.<\/p>\n
Polyamory is the practice of intimate relationships involving more than two people with the consent of everyone involved. In recent years, polyamory is working its way to becoming a household term. Researchers have estimated that 4 to 5% of Americans practice some form of consensual non-monogamy. A 2014 blog post by Psychology Today revealed that 9.8 million people have agreed to allow satellite lovers in their relationships, which includes poly couples, swinging couples and others practicing sexual non-monogamy.<\/p>\n
And in Portland \u201d\u201c home to swingers\u2019 clubs, the most strip bars per capita, and annual porn festivals \u201d\u201c it seems you can\u2019t throw a stone without finding a poly relationship.<\/p>\n