Plural Marriage: Overview

Introduction

Polygamy, referred to as plural marriage in some religious groups, is the practice of being married to more than one person simultaneously. The practice of polygamy, or plural marriage, is illegal in the United States as well as Canada and Mexico. Traditionally, polygamy has been practiced in many cultures throughout the world, although by the twenty-first century it was only legal and widely practiced in a small number of countries, including the West African nations of Burkina Faso and Mali.

In the US, polygamy first attracted widespread attention during the nineteenth century when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, also referred to as the LDS and whose members are often referred to as Mormons, adopted polygamy, which they referred to as plural marriage. Polygamy among LDS members, who primarily lived in the Utah territory, provoked widespread criticism throughout the US and government opposition. While the LDS banned plural marriage in 1890 as a condition for Utah's eventual admission to the Union as the forty-fifth US state, some Mormon fundamentalist groups broke away from the LDS and continued practicing plural marriage despite its illegality.

According to an estimate published in The New Yorker in 2021, an estimated 60,000 people in the US practiced polygamy; roughly two-thirds of polygamists in the US at that time belonged to fundamentalist Mormon groups engaged in plural marriage. The ongoing practice of plural marriage in some small communities continued to provoke debate throughout the US. On the political front, Mormon fundamentalists and other proponents of polygamous or plural marriage argued that plural marriage is a moral right, personal choice, and legitimate expression of a long-held religious belief. Critics, however, pointed to legal hurdles, such as property rights, child custody, or power of attorney for incapacitated spouses, as well as criminal issues, particularly widespread reports of the marriages of underage girls in these communities. The mainstream LDS church continued to outlaw plural marriage and did not consider anyone practicing polygamy to be a member of the church.

Understanding the Discussion

Bigamy: The practice of being married to two different people simultaneously, often without both parties having knowledge of the situation.

Celestial Marriage: The term for marriage in the Mormon Church. Celestial marriage is understood to be divinely arranged and lasting for eternity.

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS): The official name for the Mormon Church.

Plural Marriage: Another term for the practice of polygamy.

Polyandry: The practice of one woman having more than one husband simultaneously.

Polygyny: The practice of one man having more than one wife simultaneously.

History

Polygamy was a common practice in the ancient world and remained present in the twenty-first century among certain groups in Africa, Asia, India, and the Middle East. In the West, the influence of Judeo-Christian ethics reduced the practice of polygamy, as it was forbidden by both Jewish and Christian religious texts.

“Polygamy” is a broad term used to describe the general practice of multiple marriages, but it is most often used to describe marriage between one man and many women. Technically, the term for this type of polygamy is “polygyny.” The rarest form of polygamy is polyandry, which refers to one woman with multiple husbands, which has historical precedents but was far less common than polygyny. Polygamy differs from bigamy in that “bigamy” literally means one person being married to two other individuals (often without their knowledge or consent), while “polygamy” implies a greater number of additional marriages, in which all parties are aware of the marital situation.

In the United States, the practice of polygamy gained popularity among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), or Mormon church, in the nineteenth century. Starting in 1852, Mormon leader Brigham Young publicly promoted the idea that he had received special knowledge from God that polygamy should be practiced by faithful members of the LDS. Some Mormons were already practicing polygamy, and they found validation in Young’s teachings. Others were encouraged to take up the practice as Young preached that plural marriages would ensure a better eternal standing for both men and women in the church. Young himself married at least nineteen women. LDS founder Joseph Smith, who founded the church in YEAR and led it until his murder in YEAR, had as many as thirty-three wives, dating the practice to a period earlier than previously believed and confirming its existence among the church's inner circle before it was adopted by the LDS as a whole.

As the Mormon Church grew, its members made up the majority of the White population of the Utah territory. In the late 1880s, the question of polygamy became an important issue as the region of Utah petitioned for statehood. In 1890, the practice of polygamy was banned by the Mormon Church as a precondition for Utah to enter the United States as the country's forty-fifth state, which officially happened in 1896. Mormon leader Wilford Woodruff announced to the Mormon Church that it was no longer God’s wish for members of the Mormon Church to practice polygamy.

When the practice was officially banned, some polygamists remained in the LDS and agreed not to promote polygamy, but to remain in the unions that were already established. Others broke away from the mainstream Mormon church and formed splinter groups that chose to follow the traditional Mormon teachings on polygamy. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) ultimately became the largest of these fundamentalist groups.

Throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, critics and former members of polygamous groups such as the FLDS described the activities within the sect as abusive and manipulative. Fundamentalist groups are governed by a leading male, often called a “prophet,” and a group of male elders. Women within the group are considered the property of the men, to be distributed and redistributed in marriage according to the leadership of the prophet or elders.

Over time, the practice within polygamy that has drawn the greatest criticism is that of the marriage of older men to underage girls. Such child brides are often married into physically, emotionally, and sexually abusive relationships with older men. This practice of marriage between men and girls is present, if not common, in polygamous groups throughout the world, with the FLDS and other Mormon fundamentalist groups no exception.

An additional concern regarding the FLDS is the expulsion of young men from the group. As young women are selected for marriage to older men, younger males are often forced to leave by the sect’s elders, to reduce competition for additional brides. Various organizations fighting against polygamy work to assist these boys, who are abandoned by their families and community.

In the late 1990s, as controversy over the FLDS and other similar sects attracted national attention, two women’s organizations formed on opposing fronts of the polygamy debate. The Women’s Religious Liberties Union was formed by a group of polygamous wives to promote the legalization of plural marriages and to foster a positive image for the polygamous lifestyle. In contrast, the non-profit organization Tapestry Against Polygamy was founded by women, primarily former members of fundamentalist Mormon communities, who had left polygamous marriages. Their organization offers counseling, legal aid, housing, education, and employment for women trying to flee polygamous marriages. Still, the practice continued; in July 2005, it was reported by the Utah and Arizona Attorney General’s Offices that approximately twenty to forty thousand individuals within the United States practice plural marriage.

Polygamy Today

Despite the relatively small number of people practicing polygamy in the US during the twenty-first century, polygamy continued to provoke intense debate and attract significant attention in US popular culture. For example, the cable television channel HBO contributed to the discussion of polygamy in America with the television series Big Love (2006–11), a drama about the life of a polygamous, fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah. The show was criticized by the Mormon Church for glorifying the practice of polygamy. Others argue that the show did not accurately represent the polygamous lifestyle or the dangers it presents.

In the summer of 2006, plural marriage in fundamentalist LDS communities again gained national attention with the FBI search for FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, who had been on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list for four months before his arrest. He was charged with acts of sexual assault and rape and as an accomplice to rape for arranging for a teenage girl to be married to an older man. He was also later charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. In September 2007, he was found guilty on two counts of being an accomplice to rape and was sentenced to a term of ten years to life in prison. Jeffs's brother, Lyle, was charged with fraud in 2017 for his alleged criminal activity while overseeing the FLDS's finances.

In December 2014, Rosemary Williams of the TLC series My Five Wives, which follows the polygamist Williams family, alleged that her father, the Apostolic United Brethren (AUB) president Lynn A. Thompson, had molested her when she was twelve years old. She decided not to press charges, stating that she instead wanted to warn others and prevent further abuse. The AUB responded that the group was investigating the claim themselves and working with a domestic violence prevention organization.

In 2010, TLC premiered Sister Wives, a reality television show following the daily life of Utah polygamists, the Browns. The show drew widespread media attention, garnering both favorable and scathing reviews. Some critics lauded the show for its subdued, frank portrayal of polygamist life. Father Kody Brown stated that his family hoped that their participation in the show would help to improve polygamy’s negative public image. The Browns were investigated for bigamy as a result of exposure from the show and fled to Nevada to avoid prosecution. The Browns, who were cleared of any suspicions of abuse, sued the state of Utah in 2011 over an anti-cohabitation law aimed at preventing polygamists from even living together, irrespective of legal marital status. In 2013 the district court ruled in the Browns’ favor, stating that that portion of the law violated their First Amendment rights to freedom of religion.

Public interest in polygamy in the US continued throughout the 2010s and into the 2020s. For example, 2018 saw the premiere of Seeking Sister Wife, a TLC reality dating series which featured polygamous families seeking new partners to join their marriage. A Netflix documentary entitled Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey (2022), which documented the crimes of Warren Jeffs and other members of the FLDS, brought renewed attention to the group years after Jeffs's conviction on a wide range of criminal charges.

As debate over the legal status of polygamous relationships continued, some state lawmakers in the US passed legislation in related to this issue. Notably, in March 2020, Utah governor Gary R. Herbert signed a law which decriminalized polygamy, which had previously been a felony in the state of Utah. While polygamy remained a felony in a number of cases, namely if a polygamous marriage was abusive or carried out with threats, fraud, or force, cases of polygamy which did not fall into these categories became punishable with a fine of up to $750 and community service. Supporters of this bill argued that it would make women in plural marriages safer by giving them greater legal recourse in the event of abuse or coercion, since the women themselves would no longer have to worry about facing criminal charges. Additionally, supporters of the bill argued that it reduced criminal pentalties for polygamists who were otherwise law-abiding citizens. However, critics of the bill felt it would help legitimize the practice of polygamy and could help perpetuate cycles of abuse in certain fundamentalist communities.

Meanwhile, a number of prominent Mormon fundamentalist groups, namely the FLDS, remained active in the US and continued practicing plural marriage. Despite Warren Jeffs's 2007 criminal conviction and imprisonment, he allegedly remained leader of the FLDS well into the 2020s, despite occasional power struggles within the FLDS and challenges to his authority. One of Jeffs's sons, Helaman Jeffs, became a rising figure in the FLDS and was allegedly given the authority to perform plural marriages starting in 2022. By 2023 the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claimed that FLDS members had spread out to other states, including North Dakota, to avoid attention from law enforcement.

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