Exhibit redefining 'family'
 Utah Pride Center extends invitation to polygamists, others
 
By Deborah Bulkeley and Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
 
Is your family "traditional"? Maybe you have two moms or two dads. Maybe you're a single parent. You might consider your roommates to be your family.

Or maybe you have one dad and several moms.

Whatever the case, the Utah Pride Center is seeking families to be photographed and interviewed for an upcoming exhibit titled "FAMILIES ... It's All Relative."

The invitation includes a long list of family types — from traditional marriage to polygamy — to be displayed at the downtown Salt Lake City library as part of the annual Winter Pride festival, which celebrates the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community.

Nathan Measom of the Utah Pride Center acknowledges that including polygamy could raise some eyebrows. But, he insists, the exhibit isn't meant to be controversial.

"It's just to show there are different types of families that maybe aren't traditional families, but that are maybe just as much a family," Measom said. "We want to give the people this idea that there are these alternative families in Utah."

People who live in polygamy certainly agree on the many definitions of family.

"We're definitely part of that diversity in Utah," said Ann Wright, who lives in the polygamous community of Centennial Park on the Utah-Arizona border.

Rep.-elect Christine Johnson, D-Salt Lake City, said the inclusion of polygamy "makes me stop and evaluate what I think of as family."

Johnson, who is raising a daughter with her lesbian partner, acknowledges that her family is considered "non-traditional." While some lawmakers see parallels between same-sex couples and polygamy, Johnson says the two are inherently different.

"We're saying we want to be monogamous, we want to be respected by society by saying we made this commitment," she said.

However, pro-polygamy activists have increasingly found themselves encountering activists pushing for equal rights in the gay and lesbian community.

They have found some common ground, despite many fundamentalist communities preaching homosexuality is a sin.

"It's a touchy subject because the gay and lesbian community and the polygamist community both have people that feel very strongly against each other," said Wright, who is with the pro-polygamy Centennial Park Action Committee.

The trick may be finding polygamous families willing to come out of the proverbial closet to participate in the exhibit.

"It's a possibility," said Mary Batchelor, a founder of the pro-polygamy group Principle Voices. "There are some very open-minded polygamists who would find that broad-minded of the gay and lesbian community to include them."

Many polygamous families fear being exposed because they can be prosecuted for bigamy.

Measom hopes the exhibit will draw a large audience when it premieres Feb. 14. The exhibit is designed to raise awareness of non-traditional families in a state that has already constitutionally banned marriage except between a man and a woman.

"Sometimes we tend to forget that here in Utah, that's a part of our community, and it definitely is," he said.

Applications for the exhibit are being accepted until Jan. 10 online at www.slcwinterfest.com, or at the Utah Pride Center, 361 N. 300 West in Salt Lake City.

E-mail: dbulkeley@desnews.com; bwinslow@desnews.com
 
deseretnews.com
Originally published Sunday, December 10, 2006
 
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