So...I'm finishing up my second year of law school as I type this. Just two weeks of finals and a paper to go, and I'm free for a WHOLE WEEK before I have to start working
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Oh jeez... I can't believe I'm actually pimping out my work here, but last fall we ran a special issue of our monthly magazine about marriage for The Gay. I realize it's not the same thing as polygamous marriage, but since they tend to get lumped into the same category in some people's minds ("Gay marriage? What's next, people marrying horses? People marrying five other people?!"), maybe some of the sources and viewpoints will be relevant, or at least interesting...
I'm all for whatever kind of contracted marriage relationship between consenting adults. The contract must spell out property, childcare and custody, insurance, medical decisionmaking, what happens in case of divorce or death, all that kind of stuff. Then that document is what is enforceable in court should it come to that.
I don't give a fuck what any church in any city of any land says about it, so I'm probably in the minority among Americans.
So, then, are you in the camp of requiring pre-nuptual agreements in all civil unions (marriage or domestic partnerships), and allowing whatever configuration people want?
Or are you saying that multi-party unions should skip the State and simply contract their unions?
Do'ya know? I think I'm going to go with being against the legality, but mostly for the efficiency sake. Our government (in the US at least) is not set up to deal very well with relationships with more than one legal spouse, and until there is more recognition of the legal and emotional rights of spouses later in time or with less documented ties to the deceased spouse (my brain went right to "what happens when one of them dies?") then I don't think multiple marriage would work very well
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I agree that we're not set up for legal 3-or-more-way-marriage yet...but part of the hypo of legalizing it would involve creating a structure for managing it...
What I'm curious about is your underlying difficulty...I'm interested in your notion of "true equity..." Are you saying that the two-person legal marriage arrangement is so broken that letting larger groups do it wouldn't be a good idea? I'm just not sure what you're getting at specifically. Not arguing, just asking for clarification.
I guess the idea of true equity that I had in mind was more along the lines of, as I said, what would happen when the relationships dissolved for whatever reason.
From my own experience, I don't think family courts really look that deeply into what is best for the child, or what has been happening within the family, rather what decision can be reached quickly and easily.
So yes, in some respects, I think 2-partner marriage is too broken to encourage further spouses, and that until the law has evolved beyond checking off boxes in weighing which option would suit the child better, true equity isn't possible. Sometimes the parent with more time and money isn't the best custodian.
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Here endeth the work plug.
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I don't give a fuck what any church in any city of any land says about it, so I'm probably in the minority among Americans.
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Or are you saying that multi-party unions should skip the State and simply contract their unions?
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What I'm curious about is your underlying difficulty...I'm interested in your notion of "true equity..." Are you saying that the two-person legal marriage arrangement is so broken that letting larger groups do it wouldn't be a good idea? I'm just not sure what you're getting at specifically. Not arguing, just asking for clarification.
And enjoying your icon.
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From my own experience, I don't think family courts really look that deeply into what is best for the child, or what has been happening within the family, rather what decision can be reached quickly and easily.
So yes, in some respects, I think 2-partner marriage is too broken to encourage further spouses, and that until the law has evolved beyond checking off boxes in weighing which option would suit the child better, true equity isn't possible. Sometimes the parent with more time and money isn't the best custodian.
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