A local Georgia lawmaker came across as non-monogamous and revealed plans to start a family with two of his female partners, declaring that “I’m in love with two wonderful people.”
Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who became the first gay Muslim elected official in the state during a vote last year, revealed the status of their relationship in an interview. NBC News on Wednesday.
Bakhtiari said she had already been with her partner, Chris Brown, for nearly a decade, when she met Sara Al-Khayyal through a virtual non-marriage support group in late 2020.
The trio then began a relationship that they chose to keep a secret – even during Bakhtiyari’s local election campaign.
Bakhtiyari, who is also non-binary and she and they go by, said that she wanted to come out about their relationship on her own terms to avoid a “scandal” as they plan to have a family together. were making.
“We are showing it openly and are proud of it,” Bakhtiyari said of their relationship.
“It should be destroyed. It’s a very valid family structure that people should adopt.”
He did not elaborate on what his family dynamics might look like.
While the legislator’s term is not until 2026, Bakhtiyari is already predicting that his non-monogamous relationship could affect his chances at re-election.
“If people don’t want to pick me up again because I’m in love with two wonderful people and in a happy and healthy relationship that’s probably the biggest thing that’s ever happened to me, then I’m fine,” Bakhtiyari said. ,
The trio, who prefer the term non-marriage rather than polygamy, admitted in interviews that it was difficult to hide their relationship for two years, given Bakhtiari’s public life.
“It’s the sort of thing that a political opponent or someone who has some ax to grind can pick up and turn around and turn into something negative, and we want to claim that first. , and say that’s the best thing about our lives,” Brown said.
Bakhtiyari said that when others learn of their circumstances, they often throw up a flurry of questions, including: “Who do you love more? do you all sleep together? what happens? What are the rules? Don’t you have to choose?”