{"id":1938651,"date":"2023-05-26T10:01:32","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T14:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legalization-of-polygamy-was-always-the-logical-consequence-of-obergefell\/"},"modified":"2023-05-26T10:08:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T14:08:00","slug":"legalization-of-polygamy-was-always-the-logical-consequence-of-obergefell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legalization-of-polygamy-was-always-the-logical-consequence-of-obergefell\/","title":{"rendered":"Polygamy was inevitable after Obergefell."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">10<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Flegalization-of-polygamy-was-always-the-logical-consequence-of-obergefell%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1938651&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Legal Polyamory in Somerville, Massachusetts<\/h2>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the landmark case of <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.oyez.org\/cases\/2014\/14-556\">Obergefell v. Hodges<\/a><\/em>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/americans-who-attend-church-weekly-are-the-final-holdouts-opposing-same-sex-marriage-poll\/\" title=\"Americans Who Attend Church Weekly Are \u2018The Final Holdouts\u2019 Opposing Same-Sex Marriage: Poll\">legalizing gay marriage<\/a> in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by a 5-4 vote. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion for the case, didn\u2019t seem to believe that the issue of polyamory could possibly be relevant or arise due to the court\u2019s decision. Just eight years later, The New York Times published an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2023\/05\/16\/style\/polyamory-somerville.html?unlocked_article_code=4OfxYMHdBDCNF6CJ-ICdNijXmkhn1iQ5lB7mzz3C-1a65TP-UTHFhFb7z362M6oBR_w0cAhcN4hAWpliADblmGHqOegRAWrnXwdc6wqcfJ6k8d5iG3uXsPuMSjGF6ZyXZjyT9trqSGSm0tJaw5kIent4zOYeunyp0pDi6WyvoXZBJ2RFZCyns2x4LspMy2sYnRXG16jLOk-NKB49WfjvtlKx-mtWco_B5Hhraa6IYNmt8WuKRd4Qhp4TK-mwYcTOvArdscd9V57rGSysyQO0yGRITXYonQXgTurfPwrv5yhjPcvQPwn_sMu9KPrVjFveIiqva5FwDGGooCenaA&#038;smid=url-share\">article<\/a> last week that celebrated Somerville, Massachusetts, as a haven for legal polyamory.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>A Haven for Non-Monogamous Relationships<\/h3>\n<p>Somerville, Massachusetts, is making waves as a haven for non-monogamous relationships. The Boston suburb adopted an ordinance in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/legalization-of-polygamy-was-always-the-logical-consequence-of-obergefell\/\" title=\"Polygamy was inevitable after Obergefell.\">2020 granting domestic partnership rights<\/a> to people in polyamorous relationships. This was followed up this spring by the passage of two more laws \u201cextending the rights of nonmonogamous residents,\u201d banning discrimination on the basis of \u201cfamily or relationship structure\u201d in city employment and policing. The Somerville City Council is currently considering extending the reach of that law to housing. And as The New York Times reports, the \u201cnonmonogamous\u201d are no longer unusual there.<\/p>\n<h3>A Very Queer City<\/h3>\n<p>Somerville is, in the words of one of its municipal councilors, \u201ca very queer city.\u201d And as\u00a0The New York Times also makes clear, \u201cthere is a significant crossover between those who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and pansexual and those who practice nonmonogamy, according to multiple studies.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Popular Entertainment and Polyamory<\/h3>\n<p>Polyamory is becoming more mainstream, with shows like \u201cPlanet Sex with Cara Delevingne\u201d and \u201cSex Diaries\u201d featuring non-monogamous relationships. The same is true for polygamy, which was the subject of the hit HBO show \u201cBig Love\u201d from 2006 to 2011, and a reality show about an actual polygamous family, \u201cSister Wives,\u201d which is still running after 13 seasons.<\/p>\n<h3>The Logical and Inevitable Consequence of Obergefell<\/h3>\n<p>While Justice Anthony Kennedy&#8217;s opinion in <em>Obergefell v. Hodges<\/em> championed the idea of unions being immutable and the avoidance of loneliness, arguing it would be wrong to exclude gay couples from the legal benefits of marriage, he seemed to take it for granted that no reasonable person would assume his claims would apply to any union other than that of two persons. However, the Somerville City Council begs to differ. And though the laws it has passed are antithetical to the foundational principles of Western civilization as well as the best interests of families and children, they are right to think that what they have done is the logical and inevitable consequence of <em>Obergefell<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2>The Slippery Slope of Marriage Redefinition<\/h2>\n<blockquote>\n<p>If marriage is possible between any two individuals of the opposite or the same sex, then why not three, four, or any number of consenting adults, regardless of their sex? And if Somerville is the harbinger of a growing movement to legalize polyamorous and inevitably polygamous marriages by cities and ultimately states, then those who will defend such laws are on firm ground declaring that the logic of <em>Obergefell<\/em> demands that all non-traditional ideas about marriage must be treated equally under the law. This is the choice America made in 2015.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>The Slippery Slope Argument<\/h3>\n<p>Many people have argued that the legalization of same-sex marriage would lead to a slippery slope of redefining marriage to include polygamy and other non-traditional forms. While this argument was dismissed by supporters of same-sex marriage, recent events in Somerville, Massachusetts, suggest that this slippery slope may be a reality.<\/p>\n<p>Polygamy is still practiced in the Muslim world and is even <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2008\/05\/27\/90857818\/some-muslims-in-u-s-quietly-engage-in-polygamy\">quietly tolerated<\/a> among some Muslim immigrant communities in the United States. If American law rejects traditional marriage as a valid definition, then there is no logical reason to deny it to groups of consenting men and women or persons who define themselves in some other manner.<\/p>\n<h3>The Destruction of Traditional Family Values<\/h3>\n<p>Marriage and the creation of families based on the traditional definition involving one man and one woman is part of the foundation of our civilization. The same movement that is driving events in Somerville and elsewhere aims to destroy the traditional family. In its place, they wish to elevate the nihilism of cultural Marxism. And in a nation where President Biden has declared that support for the transgender cult that targets children and families is \u201cthe civil rights issue of our time,\u201d no one should doubt that legal polyamory and polygamy are just around the corner.<\/p>\n<h3>The Need to Defend Traditional Values<\/h3>\n<p>As politically perilous as a relitigation of <em>Obergefell<\/em> might be, reversal of that trend would require a willingness to champion traditional values about families, sex, and marriage that would call its validity into question. This wouldn\u2019t be necessary if, as Kennedy and Saletan hoped at the time, gay marriage was the end of the debate. But it isn\u2019t the end, and unless we are prepared to acquiesce to living in a country where practices such as polyamory and polygamy can thrive, <em>Obergefell<\/em> is the battleground on which we will ultimately be dragged by the Times and the queer city of Somerville.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">Jonathan S. Tobin is a senior contributor to The Federalist, editor in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/donald-trump-ends-negotiations-with-nancy-pelosi-on-coronavirus-relief\/\" title=\"Donald Trump Ends Negotiations with Nancy Pelosi on Coronavirus Relief\">chief<\/a> of JNS.org, and a columnist for Newsweek. Follow him on Twitter at @jonathans_tobin.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/14th-amendment\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">14th amendment<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/alito\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Alito<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/andrew-breitbart\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Andrew Breitbart<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/anthony-kennedy\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Anthony Kennedy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/big-love\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Big Love<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/chief-justice-john-roberts\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Chief Justice John Roberts<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cultural-marxism\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">cultural Marxism<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/gay-marriage\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Gay Marriage<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/lgbtq\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">LGBTQ<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/muslims\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Muslims<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/new-york-times\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">New York Times<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/obergefell\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Obergefell<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/obergefell-v-hodges\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Obergefell v. Hodges<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/planet-sex-with-cara-delvingne\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Planet Sex With Cara Delvingne<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/polyamory\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">polyamory<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/polygamy\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">polygamy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/president-joe-biden\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">President Joe Biden<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/queer\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">queer<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/sex-diaries\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Sex Diaries<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/sister-wives\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Sister Wives<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Discover Somerville, Massachusetts<\/h2>\n<p>Explore the vibrant city of Somerville, Massachusetts and all it has to offer. From the bustling city center to the charming neighborhoods, there&#8217;s something for everyone in Somerville.<\/p>\n<h3>Get Involved with Somerville City Council<\/h3>\n<p>Stay up-to-date with the latest news and events from the Somerville City Council. Join the conversation and make your voice heard in the community.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/somerville-city-council\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Join the Conversation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Stay Informed with The Federalist<\/h3>\n<p>Stay informed on the latest news and opinions from The Federalist. From local politics to national news, we&#8217;ve got you covered.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/somerville\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Somerville News<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/somerville-massachusetts\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Somerville Massachusetts<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/william-saletan\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Opinions by William Saletan<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia by a 5-4 vote in the landmark case of Obergefell v. Hodges. Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, didn&#8217;t consider polyamory relevant.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":559,"featured_media":1938652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[8444,27702,27704],"class_list":["post-1938651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-inevitable","tag-obergefell","tag-polygamy"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1938651"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1938651\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1938652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1938651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1938651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1938651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}