Principle Voices Statement re Brown Court Case
July 12, 2011
Principle Voices is pleased to learn of Kody Brown’s decision to file a challenge to Utah’s bigamy statute. We applaud the Browns’ for their courage in making their lifestyle public, and for standing up in behalf of the thousands of plural families who have endured disfavorable treatment. The Browns are consenting adults and have created a wonderful family. Sadly, they have already suffered harm as a result of their openness. They have faced the threat of felony prosecution. They have experienced the loss of jobs. We admire their willingness to seek the decriminalization of their family arrangement, despite the risk of greater scrutiny.
We are ready to offer them our full support. We are grateful to Professor Jonathan Turley for his commitment to the Brown family and to all those whose civil rights have been compromised. No Utahns should be relegated to second-class citizenship because of their private relationships. We anxiously await a ruling in this case which will confirm the right of all adult Americans to organize their families as they choose.
Anne Wilde, Mary Batchelor
PRINCIPLE VOICES
principlevoices.org
Reader Comments
My husband and I watch “Sister Wives” and loved it! We are LDS with polygamous ancestors, and were very grateful for the candid depiction of plural marriage as so “normal” and healthy. I feel strongly that the government should not criminalize committed marriages by consenting adults. It is the Warren Jeffs group that creates all the misunderstanding. Nobody wants to see 12 to 14 year old girls married off to much older men, or young boys “orphaned” because there aren’t enough females to go around.
How are the Browns doing financially in their fight to decriminalize plural marriage? Is there a place where people can donate funds to help them?
Thanks,
Karen Phelps
Wisconsin