Yet another oppressed ‘sexual minority’: LGBT team up with polygamist community

By J.C. von Krempach, J.D. | February 14, 2010

I thought I should share with the readers of this blog this interesting paper written by Jaime Todd-Gher.

As a lawyer working for the Center for Reproductive Rights, Ms. Gher’s primary concern is the promotion of abortion. But besides that, she also is lesbian and has ‘married’ Ms. Amy Todd during the brief period in which same-sex ‘marriage’ was legal in California (i.e before it was abrogated by popular referendum).

In her paper, Ms. Gher takes on the charge of promoting the just cause of yet another oppressed sexual minority: polygamists. Though not herself professing to be one, Ms. Gher writes: “As such, strict monogamy, defined in terms of sexual encounters, is likely more of a human ideal than an actual biological reality.”

It seems logical, therefore, that she should explore the possibilities of coalition building between LGBT activists and the polygamist movement. She concludes:

“It is important when building a civil rights movement to be cognizant of analogous struggles faced by other minority populations, and attempt to build bridges with other subordinated groups.  The LGBTQ and polygamous communities face different struggles and present varying harms; however, they are similarly persecuted for their interpersonal relationships.  In this regard, same-sex marriage advocates should carefully tread around slippery slope arguments to ensure that they do not play into the cultural narrative that polygamy is resoundingly barbaric and misogynistic.   As polygamy is practiced world-wide, women and men likely enter plural unions for significantly different reasons and likely have wide-ranging experiences.  As such, polygamous relationships should not be essentialized as harmful and evil.  In the end, the LGBTQ community should avoid building its cause by demeaning another, and direct its time and energy toward respecting diversity while fighting for equality.”

It definitely seems that abortion, homosexuality and polygamy are part of one and the same agenda….

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