It threesy
like, ‘excuse you!’ I have a hot girlfriend and an awesome boyfriend. What more could you want?”
All three insist their romance is as genuine as any relationship between two people. Joe says: “A lot of people don’t see ours as a valid relationship. People believe it is less emotionally involved because they don’t think we can possibly feel the same way about two people.
Rules
“There are no fairy tales about poly relationships. Society just isn’t set up for people like us.”
And Katie says: “It is important to me to be able to love who I love. I’m going to love these people anyway. Polyamory allows me to do just this.” Joe reveals he’s not the only one he knows with more than one steady partner.
“I have friends in relationships with three guys, three girls, two guys and a girl,” he says. “There is just as much variation as there is in a traditional relationship.”
The trio reveal they have even considered adding a fourth person – but there would have to be rules.
Clare, of St Albans, Herts, says: “We need to talk about it beforehand. You can’t just go around sleeping with anyone you want to. I wouldn’t just go out and have a one night stand – that would be cheating. But if there was someone I had been talking to and the others were OK with it – this is something we have said is OK.” They say their friends have been very supportive of their relationship – but their parents are trying hard to understand it. Joe, of Marske-by-theSea, North Yorks, says: “My mum asked if I secretly have a favourite, and my response was ‘Do you have a favourite child?’ It is possible to love two people differently but just as much. He says his mum has met both girls and loves them. Katie, from Hull, says her dad is understanding of the issues they face. Joe says: “This is the healthiest relationship I have ever been in and it is the one where I have felt the best about myself.
“The girls have said the same thing. There is a real level of trust in this relationship that I have never had before and I think it comes from the three-person dynamic.
“I want other people to know it can work for them too.”
Now they just need one more thing to make their three-way romance complete.
Clare says: “The dream is to have a kingsize bed. Student budgets only run to a double at the moment – and it’s quite a tight squeeze.”