The Basic Closed Loop Philosophy

The central point of a Closed Loop relationship is that the relationship, sexual or not, which may be gained by including a partner from outside the marriage must be something the spouse (or a different partner of the opposite sex) can't give the man.  Thus, the following are not Closed Loop relationships:

1) A married man who, after a number of years, tires of his wife and  has an affair with another woman.

2) A gay "married" couple where one member of the couple has an affair with another man (for the same reasons as #1 above).  For a male  couple to be part of a Closed Loop, one of the members would be bisexual and would have a relationship with a woman.

3) A relationship based solely on sex (a CLR is also about friendship and male bonding)

4) A group marriage (two women and a man, two men and a woman, three men,  three women).  In a Closed Loop, the relationship between the 'outsider' and the spouse must be non-sexual.  It can, however, be cordial and in an ideal world even friendly.

5) Any man who is having sex with more than one man.  There is no such  thing as having "multiple Closed Loop relationships".  It's like being  pregnant.  Either you are or you aren't.

Sex doesn't have to be part  of the Closed Loop relationship.  Whether or not a relationship falls under the spirit and definition of a Closed Loop says NOTHING about the validity of that relationship. There are many different terms for different situations.  Polygamy, polyandry, affair, menage-a-trois, serial monogamy, etc.  Each term describes a slightly different relationship and no term invalidates any of the others.