A bill to decriminalize polygamy for consenting adults unanimously has passed in Utah's Senate. Advocates told KUER that criminalizing polygamy has only pushed the practice further underground.
. Critics say it would make it harder for people to leave polygamous communities. But supporters of the bill, like Lindsay Hansen Park, say it will bring polygamy out of the shadows and help root out abuses.She spoke with KUER’s Elaine Clark about what differences she thinks the bill could make in a state that has a complicated legal history with polygamy.
EC: Jumping ahead to today, there are anti-polygamist groups that have been very vocal about their opposition to this current bill. Talk about the abuses — what you've called the"true horrors" that can result from the doctrines.There are communities in Utah that live every day under really oppressive situations. You know, they are under age marriages, forced marriages, incest, abuse. All of these things are happening right under our noses.
But I have to make it clear that just because it's a polygamous group does not mean that there are forced marriages or underage marriages. Some groups practice these things, and some don't. What I would pin it on is the ones that have the most heinous, horrific crimes, like the [Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], are groups that have been isolated, self-isolated, or forced isolation from the outside world.
Polygamy has been criminalized for decades and decades, and I think that we can see on the historical record that it's only pushed the practice further underground. They're taught from an early age that if they come forward and they get help, that they're putting not just their entire family in jeopardy, but their entire community in jeopardy. And so a lot of people don't get help. They don't trust outsiders. They don't trust the government. And for good reason.
But for the most part, the majority of educated fundamentalists that have a lot of resources, polygamists that are open, they're supporting this bill. Because the horrible things that Warren Jeffs perpetrated on his people and that whole system, shocked and horrified, not just the rest of the world, but especially fundamentalists because they have to live with the impact. They get lumped in with this.
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