Should group marriage be allowed?

Should group marriage be allowed?

I am counsel for the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association and we just filed our affidavits in the court case in BC considering the constitutionality of the law that prohibits group marriage.

The law was enacted almost 120 years ago – before women had the vote. It was aimed at Mormon sects and aboriginals who engaged in polygyny: where men take several wives.

But the wording of the law extending to any sort of multiple conjugal relationships, thereby criminalizing modern polyamorous households living as triads and quads.

The law has been very rarely enforced, but recently the BC government tried to do that against leaders in the polygynous Bountiful community of BC. The prosecution failed and the government initiated a rare court Reference to assess the constitutionality of the law.

The Canadian polyamory community decided to get involved because even though no polyamorous family has been prosecuted under the law, the very existence of the law is a threat to the poly lifestyle.

A survey our organization conducted showed that many cohabiting poly families (and we identified well over 100 cohabiting families in Canada) were unwilling to out themselves for fear of legal repercussions. But we were able to find five courageous families who stepped forward to file affidavits.

Our group  challenges the right of any government to prohibit group conjugal cohabitation and marriage, like poly, where there is no gender discrimination  or any other form of social harm.

If we are successful, group marriage will no longer be prohibited in Canada.

Even though poly folk will then be legally able to go through marriage ceremonies, the legal ramifications of such marriage will still have to be determined. For example, who is entitled to a pension in a poly family? Custody and access to children? Survivor benefits?

Those issues will have to be worked out through further legal reform, just as our society is in process of doing in the case of gay marriage.

But the first step is to ensure that no poly family faces the threat of criminal sanction.  Every human being should have the right to live with whomever they choose.  Hence our participation in this law suit. Stay tuned.