Atlanta city council member Liliana Bakhtiari, who is the first queer Muslim to hold an elected office in Georgia, announced she’s been in a loving relationship with her two partners in an interview with NBC News.“It’s a very valid familial structure that people should embrace.”Bakhtiari, who is also the first non-binary councilmember of a major US city, said it’s been difficult to hide the relationship from the world, but they wanted to come out on their terms instead of a “political opponent” outing them before they were ready.“This is the sort of thing that a political opponent or someone who has some axe to grind might pick up on and twist around and turn into something negative, and we want to claim it upfront and say this is the best thing about our life,” Brown added.“It was the first time that I had been with anyone who didn’t want to be monogamous.”Brown continued: “For me, it was kind of a relief as well to be like, ‘OK, I don’t have to be this person’s everything all the time.“I didn’t want to be in a relationship where I was always going to have to be essentially in the closet.”Bakhtiari said they knew that coming out as non-monogamous may affect their political career as their term ends in January 2026."