Last week Family Research Council President Tony Perkins pointed out that the Supreme Court’s decision on the federal Defense of Marriage Act had absolutely no effect on state marriage laws. Thirty-eight states still had laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Twelve had laws defining it differently. Nothing was changed.
If homosexual activists were looking for a landmark victory redefining marriage nationwide, it didn’t come. What was interesting, however, was how emboldened polygamists were by the ruling.
Perkins quoted one polygamist interviewed by BuzzFeed about the ruling:
“We’re very happy with it,” said Joe Darger, a Utah polygamist, “I think [the court] has taken a step in correcting some inequality, and that’s certainly something that’s going to trickle down and impact us…I think the government needs to now recognize that we have a right to live free as much as anyone else.”
Polygamists know marriage-redefinition is good for them. Same-sex marriage’s fundamental argument is that people should be free to marry whoever they want to marry; if that’s your position, then you have to be prepared to let someone marry whoever they want, regardless of how many people that may be.
Same-sex marriage proponents did not win as big as they had hoped to in court last week, but they did get part of the federal government’s marriage law stricken. A lot of people are taking note, and you can believe if gay activists begin winning big in court, polygamists will follow.
