‘Sister Wives’ star Nathan Collier and his two wives seek to legalize polygamy under the Marriage Equality Act. They turned in an application to register Collier’s second marriage at the Yellowstone County Courthouse in Billings, Montana on Tuesday, June 30. County officials clerks denied the application, but the Colliers await a formal response from the courthouse. Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states in the United States, but the Colliers hope to hear a different response after the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision on gay marriage.
Nathan legally married his first wife Victoria Marie Daugherty in 2000. Nathan and Christine had a religious ceremony in 2007. They kept their polygamist relationship hidden from the public eye until they decided to go on the American reality television show ‘Sister Wives.’ The TLC series follows the life of a polygamist family. After their debut on the show, Nathan was excommunicated from the Mormon church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
“At this point we don't know what to expect, we're either going to plan a marriage, plan a civil suit, or possibly even a criminal defense," said 46-year-old Nathan.
Bigamy, the practice of marrying another person while being legally married to someone else is a felony. The crime is punishable with up to five years in prison and a fine of five hundred dollars. Anne Wilde, the co-founder of Principle Voices, a Utah polygamy advocacy group said that “ninety percent or more of fundamentalist Mormons” do not desire to have polygamy legalized. Wilde said that most only want it “decriminalized.” She added that the Colliers’ application was the first one that she heard of in the U.S.
“Every person having a husband or wife living, who marries another, whether married or single, in a Territory, or other place over which the United States have exclusive jurisdiction, is guilty of bigamy, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than $500, and by imprisonment for a term of not more than five years,” stated the Supreme Court in the case of Reynolds vs United States in 1878.
The ruling was backed up by The Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act enacted by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. The Edmunds Act, also known as the Edmunds Anti-Polygamy Act of 1882 was signed into law by President Chester A. Arthur. The Edmunds Act declared polygamy as a felony and 1,300 men were jailed following its enactment. The Colliers hope that the Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell vs Hodges regarding gay marriage will enable them to attain a valid marriage license for Christine.
“We're just wanting to be a family, we just wanting the same rights that everybody else has. Marriage equality means marriage equality," said Victoria.
Kevin Gillen, the Chief Civil Litigator of Yellowstone County said that he will review Montana state laws prior to giving the family a formal answer. The Christian Post reports that Nathan has already contacted the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana and plans to file a lawsuit if he is denied.
