Legalizing Gay Marriage

Looking at the recent Supreme Court ruling which approved the legalization of gay marriage in the United States, establishing a new civil right and handing gay rights advocates a historic victory, some individuals like William Baude in the New York Times are now wondering if legalized polygamy may be next, while some like Fredrik Deboer in Politico are already suggesting that it should be. The truth is that restricting marriage in any form between consenting adults is absolutely a violation of human right. Monogamy, Polygamy, and Gay marriage should all be legal. People deserve a right to marriage with whomever they so choose. Cheating has never solved the problem, and cheating will never solve the problem.

According to an article (Legalize Polygamy) published on Sun Magazine, “sex researcher Shere Hite in a 1991 study found that 70 percent of married women have cheated on their partners; a 1993 follow-up study found that 72 percent of married men have as well. According to 2004 University of Chicago Study, 25 percent of married men have had at least one extramarital affair. And with more than 12 million members looking for extramarital intimacy on Web sites like ashleymadison.com”

The definition of marriage is plastic, but Polygamy can be defined as marriage in which a spouse of either sex may have more than one mate at the same time. It is the act of being in a marriage relationship with multiple spouses, which supposes having more than one husband or wife at a time. While monogamy, the act of marring just one spouse at a given time is the opposite of polygamy and the most common form of marriage practiced around the globe, it is quite interesting to note that most cultures do practice polygamy today, though in most of these countries the practice is not officially recognized, just as gay marriage isn’t legal or officially recognized in these countries. Basically, when we think of Polygamy, we usually picture a man with multiple wives (polygyny). Interestingly, there are also other types of polygamy; some examples would be one wife marrying multiple husbands (polyandry) and a more complex type which is the multi-male/multi-female, or homosexual plural marriage in which a homosexual marriage is comprised of either multiple male or multiple female spouses.

There is a misconception that polygamy is not healthy especially for the kids born into it because of the notion of kids being set into perpetual contention with other kids and mothers for the fondness and consideration of the family patriarch, and that a man or a woman with many kids or a large family is usually spread too thin. This perspective and conception is biased and views this issue only from one angle. Men in monogamous relational unions can't be spread too thin? Kids in monogamous families don't rival each other for favor and considerations from their father and mother? In America today, two-parent families are no longer common and is not the reality for most American kids. Divorce, remarriage, surrogate parents, broadened relatives, and other assorted family structures and fixes mean families now come in all sizes, structure, and arrangement. So, using children as an excuse and reason to not legalize polygamy is nonsense.

Times have changed, circumstances are now different. Divorce, which was once a social disgrace, is now presently the standard; gay marriage, once inconceivable which was considered to be an abomination and sodomy, has been legalized. American culture is currently far more understanding of what were once observed and considered as unorthodox lifestyle choices, but not for polygamy. Adam and Eve are alright as are Adam and Dickson; however, it appears Adam, Eve and Lilith is a stage too far. This has neither common sense nor reason! As an advancing country with open minded citizens, a country with such a powerful line in its national anthem “THE LAND OF THE FREE.” We have decided to approve and validate people’s way of life especially those that deal with partner choices of almost every genre of society, why are we still excluding those in plural relationships? This is America, this is the land where people oppressed in their various countries for religious reasons and for finding love with someone of the same sex come and they find freedom. Why should we keep denying the fact that love must not only be between two adults; intimate love between three, four, five, six consenting adults is equally a possibility. We are directly choosing to criminalize beautiful families and open their kids to the risk of stigma and disgrace just because they choose to love more than one person. This is absurd and appalling! It does not fit with the standard of today’s tolerant 21st century.