Polygamous Children to Rally in Salt Lake

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,645191989,00.html

Children of 'plural families' to rally

Purpose of Aug. 19 rally in S.L. is to defend their lifestyle
By Ben Winslow
Deseret Morning News
They're making banners that say things like "Justice and Liberty For All," "Intolerance Hurts Kids" and "I Love ALL My Moms."
Hundreds of children from polygamous families plan to stage a rally next week to stand up for their families, their communities and their faiths.
"I hope that they'll see there's good people in happy families," said Maranda, an 18-year-old who lives in a plural family in the Salt Lake Valley. Like most of the teenagers involved in the rally, she declined to give her last name to protect her family.
The pro-polygamy group Principle Voices is organizing the Aug. 19 rally at the Salt Lake City-County building. It will feature mostly youth speakers.
"Our teenagers wanted to defend their lifestyle," rally organizer Anne Wilde told the Deseret Morning News on Wednesday. "Often they're perceived as the victims. They want to say no, they don't consider themselves the victims. They feel like this should be a free choice."
Members of the Apostolic United Brethren, The Davis Co-operative Society, Centennial Park and independent fundamentalist groups are expected to be in attendance. Organizers said the Fundamentalist LDS Church was also invited to participate, but there has been no response.
The rally is also in response to the heat that's been put on polygamous communities since fugitive FLDS Church leader Warren Jeffs was put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list.
Jeffs, 50, is charged in Utah and Arizona with sex crimes accusing him of forcing teenage girls into polygamous marriages with older men. Federal prosecutors have charged him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. There is a $100,000 bounty out for his arrest.
Maranda said the publicity surrounding Jeffs has given other polygamous communities a bad image.
"I feel that there's an image where all the children who are in polygamist families are held down and don't think for themselves and have no choice in the matter," she told the Deseret Morning News. "I want to change that."
Many children in polygamy say they have been harassed at public school and called derogatory names like "plyg." Some children have declined to participate out of fear of being publicly identified.
"I'd like to see us not have to feel like we're hiding something," Maranda said. "We're really doing what we believe is right. We're not hurting anyone."
Such a public statement is expected to draw attention, but Wilde said she hopes the youth rally leads to positive change for future generations of plural families.
"They do not want to be perceived as victims, as unhappy and controlled," she said. "They have their free choice as to whether or not they want to live it as adults. Many say 'I'll wait and see,' some say 'I hope to.' Maybe they'll say, 'It's not for me.' The important thing is they can choose for themselves."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4155825

Polygamist youth to rally in downtown Salt Lake City
The Salt Lake Tribune
By Brooke Adams

Posted: 8:26:16 AM- Children from polygamous communities plan to speak out in defense of their families and their faith in a public rally, breaking the secrecy that normally envelopes their lives.
Organizers expect between 100 and 300 people to attend the "Youth and Family" rally, which will take place Aug. 19 at the Salt Lake City/County Building from 10 a.m. to noon.
The rally is a first for Utah's polygamous communities, whose families usually shun public attention because of the repercussions it could have for them - an anonymity the children will still cling to by disclosing only their first names at the gathering.
It also is historic "to not only bring the communities together in a united cause, but also to bring the youth together in a united way," said Mary Batchelor, executive director of the polygamy advocacy group Principle Voices. "They don't generally mingle."
Media from around the world have besieged Principle Voices with requests to interview families, Batchelor said, but "because of the current climate, no families are willing to let the media in. Well, this is the next best thing," she said.
The children participating in the rally represent four different polygamous communities: The Davis County Cooperative Society, the Apostolic United Brethren; Centennial Park; and independent fundamentalist Mormons.
Sixteen children, ranging in age from 10 to 19, are slated to speak at the rally, though they will not be disclosing which group they belong to. The rally will also feature a youth band and free snow cones.
"I'm your brother and your friend no matter who you are or where you come from and I won't judge you," said Christian, 19, in a press release announcing the rally. "Can you say about me?"
To date, the public has heard only from teens who have left their communities primarily those from the southern Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or had traumatic experiences, Batchelor said.
"What we're doing is not to counter that, to say their experience is less valid, but it is to say that isn't the only experience for our youth," she said. "This is the portion of our community that doesn't get to speak. The ones who volunteered very much wanted to speak out about their experiences, hopes and dreams and what life is like for them."
Organizers attempted to include the FLDS community, based in southern Utah, in the rally but got no response, Batchelor said.
Batchelor said interest in putting on the rally also was triggered by a Utah Supreme Court decision in the Rodney Holm case earlier this year. The high court upheld the state's criminalization of polygamy. But Chief Justice Christine M. Durham authored a 37-page dissent, saying she would have overturned Holm's bigamy conviction.
"We felt like it was time people knew this was exactly how we feel," Batchelor said. "She put into words how we feel and believe."