New Utah Bigamy Law

Al99

Well-known member
http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/11/politics/utah-bigamy-law/

This new Utah law is specifically aimed at bigamy (and it would seem clear that it is really in regard to the bigamy practiced by certain fundamentalist branches of Mormonism) - but it seems to me it could affect some of those who practice polyamory in the larger sense as well.

Here is a brief quote from the article:
"The law would now say that a person is guilty of bigamy if he or she lives with a purported spouse while legally married to someone else. The current law says bigamy occurs when a married man weds someone "spiritually" or when he cohabitates with someone.

I could definitely see that being an issue for some of the poly folks I've seen post here on the forum - if they lived in Utah, of course.

Al
 
Thanks for Sharing Al.

I think it matters quite a bit because this state is more likely to follow through with action against polyamorous (and/or polygamous people) in Utah than elsewhere because of the history of the state.

It is still true that both in the normal Mormon church and the some fundamentalist ones, some practice bigamy covertly. It is spiritually taught in the Mormon church right up until I joined in 1990 and left in 2011.

A famous example of this is the fundamental Mormon who has 4 wives and actually moved out of Utah to escape the polygamy laws.

https://press.discovery.com/uk/tlc/programs/sister-wives-2/

It's the main reason I won't move back to Utah. This ideology either needs to be updated in the Mormon church or completely chucked out.

The technical spiritual views on the Mormon church that then play into policies with the government go like this:

1) A woman can be married to someone who is dead "spiritually" in a Mormon Temple- but is not a technical civil marriage or recognised in the USA.

2)A woman is not able to go to "the highest degree of heaven", without a man. (Called being "sealed" to a member of the priesthood)

3) A woman's children will also not go to heaven with her, and would essentially be dividing a family if they do not find a candidate on earth, so its preferable to be sealed to a worthy priesthood holder.

4) If you look at this article on women and men in Utah this article shows a huge discrepancy in gender in the Mormon church.
The numbers appear compelling. In Utah, he claims, there are now 150 Mormon women for every 100 Mormon men, “a 50 percent oversupply of women,” even though overall, there are actually more men than women in the state.

I recognised this early on and decided that it would be easier to find a non-Mormon man interested in the culture and willing to be Mormon with me than it would be to find a Mormon man. I wasn't exactly the best material for Mormon wife either, as I didn't have a history of 6 generations Mormon family to fall back on in the community. ;)

I can see why many women would prefer bigamy legal or not to eternal damnation.

Why this is an issue for Utah in particular versus other states:

Until the 1900's the Mormon church practiced openly bigamy, however this was against the USA Constitution, and because they had been "adopted into the USA" a lot later than the rest of the states.. they agreed to give up polygamy.

However different leaders were divided on this subject, and other countries, even as last at 2000 still secretly did bigamy/plural marriage in both temples and in real world in places like Canada, and Mexico to by pass laws.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealing_(Mormonism)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormonism_and_polygamy

It's groups like these that both open peoples eyes to outside ideas of polyamory and at the same time is deeply the opposite of polyamory because of its restrictive nature on women and not allowing the same rights and freedoms to women as men.

Also, because of the way Utah was founded the men who are political influencers are often also high up Mormon officials. And also the ones with most money from land, property etc.

An article on the separation of church and state in Utah:
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-03-21/news/mn-13641_1_church-support

But if Utah is not the theocracy envisioned by pioneer leader Brigham Young and other early Mormons, neither has its government shed a perception that has endured since statehood--that the state's true seat of power is the Church Administration Building at the bottom of Capitol Hill.

So TL;DR: Knowing the history of the religion helps to understand the reasons this is more actively pursued and possibly a state that right now is not a place to live polyamorous regardless of configuration but especially with polygamy. Separation of church and state is very convoluted so to understand policy is to understand the religion.


And my own personal anecdotal evidence of the current practice of covert polygamy in the main stream Mormon church which makes this more convoluted is the fact that I was asked to be a "secret second wife" by a man high up in the LDS priesthood and community I lived in, in England. It was the final push I needed to leave the Mormon church. I was threatened with ex-communication when I wanted to out him as a polygamist, because I knew it was against the teachings. There is not only hypocrisy but a method of controlling women, especially in Utah. I am deeply against this sort of polyamory now because it is pushed on women who believe they and their kids will not get into heaven without a man. Thank God I decided at this point it was a cult and left. So I simply told him that they could ex-communicate me if they liked, but that if he approached me again in any way I would go to the police, not the church. That might not matter in Utah :( I can imagine many young women, and naïve ones like myself are susceptible to coercion of this. I'm also equally cautious about more than one man, without clear consent for similar reasons. What if a man truly believes he could not find any woman, so a polyamorous one will do? Ok I am going down a rabbit hole now...
 
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Utah's strict bigamy laws is one of the reasons why I can't move there, even though my family and old friends live there. Kind of sucks. Oh well, at least the weather in Washington is milder. :(
 
Here is a brief quote from the article:
"The law would now say that a person is guilty of bigamy if he or she lives with a purported spouse while legally married to someone else. The current law says bigamy occurs when a married man weds someone "spiritually" or when he cohabitates with someone."

I feel like I'm misunderstanding this part. It sounds to me like old law: being married and living with someone else = bigamy, while new law: being married and living with someone else you claim to be your spouse = bigamy.

That makes the new law less restrictive than the old one.
 
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