THE FUTURE OF POLYAMOROUS MARRIAGE: LESSONS FROM THE MARRIAGE EQUALITY STRUGGLE

Abstract

Amidst the recent legal victories and growing public support for same-sex marriage, numerous polyamorous individuals have expressed interest in pursuing legal recognition for marriages between more than two consenting adults. This Article explores the possibilities that exist for such a polyamorous marriage equality campaign, in light of the theoretical literature on law and social movements, as well as our own original and secondary research on polyamorous and LGBT communities. Among other issues, we examine the prospect of prioritizing the marriage struggle over other forms of nonmarital relationship recognition; pragmatic regulative challenges, like taxation, healthcare, and immigration; and how law and culture shape these struggles and their ability to produce social change. We argue that legal mobilization for same-sex marriage has produced conflicting pressures for contemporary polyamorous activism. On one hand, same-sex marriage litigation has provided several doctrinal footholds for expanding marriage to polyamorous relationships. On the other hand, same-sex marriage litigation has simultaneously reinforced cultural stigmas against polyamorous relationships—stigmas which constrain the practical utility of those legal tools (especially as means for implementing broader social change beyond the letter of the law). By accounting for these conflicting legal and cultural pressures, this Article provides a comprehensive roadmap of the issues, strategies, and challenges likely to emerge along the path toward polyamorous marriages. * Professor of Law, Harry and Lillian Hastings Research Chair, UC Hastings College of the Law. ** Assistant Professor of Law, University of Wisconsin-Madison.