Polygamists: Q&A

Polygamy, once hidden in the shadows of Utah and Arizona, is breaking into the open as fundamentalist Mormons push to decriminalize it on religious grounds. Reuters gathered together polygamists for roundtable discussions in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Centennial Park, Arizona.

In Salt Lake City, two participants, Vicki and Valerie, are sisters in a polygamous marriage with a man who has three wives and 21 children in a Salt Lake City suburb. To protect the identity of their husband, they declined to release their last names. Anne Wilde, 71, is a 71-year-old widow who was part of a family of plural wives for 33 years.

In Centennial Park, Arizona, Ephraim Hammon, 36, his wife Leah, 21, and wife SherylLynne, 32, and his mother, Marlyne Hammon, spoke to Reuters in their home.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon church, introduced polygamy before the Civil War but banned it in 1890. Excommunicated by mainstream Mormons, polygamists see themselves as purists of the faith as it was practiced by founder Joseph Smith, whom historians say took more than two dozen wives.

The following are excerpts from the discussion:

REUTERS: How do you feel about the mainstream Mormon church, which excommunicates polygamists and is a vocal opponent against plural marriage?

ANNE WILDE : Most of us, if we were members, have been excommunicated, certainly if they are found out they are. I think there are some that live it very, very quietly, and people don't know; but not too many anymore. The church has chosen right now to reject plural marriage. I think they've done this is to be more friendly with the world.

Its not just that the church is against it. But the members, some of them are very narrow and intolerant. If they know that there is a polygamist family living next door to them, they may not let their kids play with them and their business may be ostracized if they know that it is public. So we still have to protect the guys, the breadwinners, so they don't have negative effects with their jobs. They could lose their jobs or if they own their own business they could lose customers.

For a lot of people in this area, polygamy is just a no no. Even though they may have ancestors who lived it. We ought to as consenting adults, which is the key, have that choice to live that lifestyle. We live it because of strong religious convictions. A lot of other people live it as a secular law or a cultural practice. If we don't have a spiritual connection there with God then we are on dangerous ground .