FOX 13 News 360: After Utah decriminalized polygamy, some see a culture shift

"I married Holly in 2005 and Katie in 2013, and I married Lisa in 2014," the polygamist said, referring to his wives.

"Bigamy had been a felony in Utah since 1935 and it clearly didn’t do what the law, I think, or the people who put that law intended it for it do. It didn’t stop people from engaging in polygamy. It ended up driving people underground, created a wall of secrecy surrounding some communities," she said.

"We had a serious human rights crisis that needed to be addressed," she told FOX 13 News."So that’s what my legislation in 2020 was meant to do." The Fundamentalist LDS Church, one of Utah's largest polygamous groups, was based in Hildale and Colorado City. Its leader, Warren Jeffs, is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison for child sex assault related to underage marriages. Since Jeffs' imprisonment, and as a result of a number of other cultural and political shifts, the communities have dramatically changed. People who live in the communities say it is more open now than ever before.

Tonia Tewell, the executive director of Holding Out Help, said she has also seen an increase in abuse reports. But Tewell said she does not believe it is because of the law change. Holding Out Help said it served 167 clients in 2020. That number climbed to 203 in 2021, with more coming in. The group recently opened another shelter in the Draper area to meet growing demand for services."I really don’t know either way. All I know is we’re not really dealing with the core issue. A lot of the people living in these communities are my friends and for me to go and say i want them to be felons doesn’t feel right, either," she said."I can’t say one way or another.

"We don’t have the same worries we did a few years ago. Really, and truly, you can be more honest about your lifestyle," said Ruth Williams, a plural wife in Centennial Park, Ariz."There’s a lot of work to be done. We have a long ways to go."

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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