Polygamy comes out of the closet
 
By Mindelle Jacobs
Edmonton Sun
 
Once upon a time, journalists had a tough time getting polygamists to talk because plural-marriage practitioners shielded themselves from the world's prying eyes.

But with the arrest of infamous polygamous leader Warren Jeffs, polygamists have become media darlings.

Suddenly, it's impossible for a curious Canadian columnist to get an interview with a pro-polygamist group in the U.S.

The Centennial Park Action Committee would love to talk to me. But they can't.

ABC's Primetime is doing a documentary on the Arizona polygamous community and the network apparently doesn't want CPAC speaking to other media.

"For the month of September our whole committee is pretty nearly booked but if you don't mind sending your request at a later date we might be better able to spend the time," CPAC spokesman Marlyne Hammon explains apologetically in her e-mail.

Go figure. Polygamists have achieved the same star quality as, say, Paris Hilton. And with a lot less baring of skin. They've become instant celebrities.

It's polygamy-mania.

Meanwhile, a CPAC member writes me separately to object to my last column's depiction of women and children in polygamous communities as being oppressed and uneducated.

"I am a plural wife ... and we feel that we are much more empowered than our monogamous counterparts," she writes.

"Not everyone is a Warren Jeffs," she adds. "The men I know empower me and encourage me to succeed."

Intrigued, I call LeAnne Timpson, the administrator of Masada Charter School, in Centennial Park, Arizona.

"These families highly value education," she says. "They're very concerned about ... giving their children opportunities."

Centennial Park is only a few kilometres from Colorado City and Hildale, the communities on the Arizona-Utah line where Jeffs lorded over the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a rogue Mormon polygamist group.

Two decades ago, a group of polygamists broke away from the FLDS and established themselves in Centennial Park.

Consequently, most of the 380 kids in kindergarten through Grade 9 who attend Masada Charter School are from the Centennial Park polygamous community.

The school is a "performing-plus" school, meaning the children exceed both state and county averages on test scores. More than 90% finish high school and many go on to college and university, says Timpson.

About one-third of the teachers, who are from Centennial Park's polygamous community, have master's degrees, she adds.

There are no underage marriages and no one is forced into polygamy, she says. "If they would like to leave the community, they can. There are no walls and gates that keep them here," she explains.

"This lifestyle and these kinds of families are not for everyone," she says. "We don't encourage our children to enter these relationships naively."

Timpson wouldn't say if she's a plural wife.

Whatever the case, polygamy is coming out of the closet. Two weeks ago, there was an extraordinary pro-polygamy rally in Salt Lake City.

One of the organizers was Anne Wilde, who was a second wife for 33 years until her husband died four years ago.

She emphasizes that she's an independent fundamentalist Mormon, unaffiliated with any organized group.

Wilde didn't live with her husband and his other wives. Instead, she lived with her kids from her first failed (traditional) marriage because she likes her independence.

"He'd come here one night and then maybe the next night he'd be with somebody else and that was fine," says Wilde, 70, who lives in Salt Lake City. Her kids haven't embraced the polygamous lifestyle.

"I just had a great marriage. We were very happy."

She's obviously sincere and I believe her. I just don't understand her - or the wonky testosterone-driven idea that God wants society set up like a harem with women on a platter.

And, ugh, women actually buy into it.

E-mail Mindy Jacobs at mjacobs@edmsun.com.
Letters to the editor should be sent to mailbag@edmsun.com.
 
EdmontonSun.com
Originally published September 3, 2006
 
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