SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (AP) -- Calling
their lives blessed, more than a dozen young women and girls from
polygamist families in Utah spoke at a rally Saturday, calling for a
change in state laws and the right to live their life and religion.
"Because
of our beliefs, many of our people have been incarcerated and had their
basic human rights stripped of them, namely life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness," said a 19-year-old identified only as Tyler. "I
didn't come here today to ask for your permission to live my beliefs. I
shouldn't have to."
Polygamy is banned in the Utah Constitution
and is a felony offense. The rally was unusual because those who
practice polygamy typically try to live under the radar.
t drew about 250 supporters to City Hall, said Mary Batchelor,
co-founder of Principle Voices of Polygamy, which helped organize the
event.The youths, ages 10 to 20, belong to various religious
sects, as well as families that practice polygamy independent of
religious affiliation. They said they spoke voluntarily. They gave only
their first names, saying they were protecting the privacy of their
parents.
All of the speakers praised their parents and families and said their
lives were absent of the abuse, neglect, forced marriages and other
"horror stories" sometimes associated with polygamist communities.
First brought to Utah by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints in 1846, polygamy was abandoned by Mormons as a
condition of statehood in 1890. The church now excommunicates members
found to be practicing plural marriage. It also disavows those who call
themselves "fundamentalist Mormons," although most Utah-based
polygamists identify themselves with those terms.
Fundamentalists
split with the Mormon church in the 19th century and continue to
believe plural marriage is the key to eternal salvation.
Read the full story here.
