Katie Hill Deserves Recognition For The House Hunters Throuple & She Knows It

Former California Rep. Katie Hill continues to make her mark on progressive representation in the media, despite resigning from her position in Congress last year. Despite the fact that the first openly bisexual member of Congress in California may no longer work on Capitol Hill, she’s not done sparking conversations about inclusivity. 

On Saturday, Hill tweeted an article about an episode of HGTV’s show House Hunters featuring its first “throuple” in the show’s history. “You know, I’m gonna take at least partial credit for enough of society knowing this term for it to be on House Hunters. Just sayin,” she tweeted. Hill pointed out that the article’s headline riffed off her longtime campaign slogan, too. “‘Representation matters’ has been my tagline since the beginning so I will take it,” she added. 

Hill's comments come after HGTV featured it's first three-way relationship between Brian, Lori, and Geli, who were seeking a home together in Colorado. The term "throuple," gained significant recognition prior to Hill's resignation from her position as a U.S. representative in California’s 25th district after her personal life became irreparably public. She was part of an alleged throuple, between her, her ex-husband, and a former campaign aide.

During her first year in office, Hill was also subjected to revenge porn after a conservative site called RedState published personal text messages as photos of the alleged throuple, including nude photos of Hill. The House Ethics Committee announced it would pursue a formal investigation into Hill before she decided to resign from her post.

Despite this, Hill has remained a stark advocate of inclusivity — and that advocacy extends to introducing the term “throuple” into public awareness. Unlike a threesome which is a sexual encounter between three people, a throuple – derived from the words three and couple – is an outgoing relationship between three people. Her discussions about polyamorous relationships and sexuality really opened up conversations around women's sexuality in politics and the double standard which she faced leading up to her decision to step down.

“I’m leaving because of a misogynistic culture that gleefully consumed my naked pictures, capitalized on my sexuality, and enabled my abusive ex to continue that abuse, this time with the entire country watching,” Hill said in a speech. “Yes, I’m stepping down, but I refuse to let this experience scare off other women who dare to take risks, who dare to step into this light.”