Polyamorous Attorney Agrees SCOTUS Decision Could Lead To Group Marriage

Polyamorous Attorney Agrees SCOTUS Decision Could Lead To Group Marriage

One of the conservative right's favorite arguments against legalized same-sex marriage nationwide is that it's a slippery slope that could lead to polygamy -- and if you're Justice Anthony Scalia or Ben Carson, it could even lead to bestiality. Others argue that drawing a connection between gay marriage and plural marriage is both an irrelevant and unfounded argument. However, one attorney argued on HuffPost Live on earlier this week that polygamy could have legal precedent.

Andy Izenson, an attorney with Diana Adams Law and Mediation who also identifies as polyamorous, explained to host Nancy Redd that the same legal reasoning to protect same-sex marriage under the 14th Amendment "could plausibly" be extended to protect group marriages, presuming it's consensual.

"The idea that a three-person or four-person union between consenting adults is not fundamentally different from a two-person union between consenting adults is absolutely legit," Izenson said.

But he added that the conservative "slippery slope" rhetoric that somehow leads to "bestiality and then people marrying their toasters" is baseless because it negates the need for consent. Izenson said Scalia invokes these presumptions as a means of scaring people because he's perturbed by the country's current socio-political climate.

"He's just trying to scare people. It's not actually a thing to be concerned about. It discounts the fact that as individuals, and as a society, we actually have the capacity to make rational reasoned choices about what we do," he said, later adding, "But as long as you've got a consensual union between adults who know what they're doing, then I think the logic is sound."

Correction: An earlier version of this story misgendered Attorney Andy Izenson. We apologize for the error and have corrected the story.

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Before You Go

Lord Tebbit
Cate Gillon via Getty Images
Because WHAT ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF A LESBIAN QUEEN!? Tebbit said: "There is, I believe, no bar to a lesbian succeeding to the Throne. It may happen. It probably will, at some stage. What, then, if she marries and her partner bears a child by an anonymous sperm donor? Is that child the heir to the Throne? If the Queen herself subsequently bore a child by an anonymous donor, which child then, if either, would inherit the Throne?"
Jack Phillips
This baker violated civil laws, got sued and ended up in court, just so he wouldn't have to make a wedding cake for a gay couple.
Lord Edmiston
This guy truly believes that all kinds of hell would break lose, including (but not exclusive to) incest, polygamy and horrendous inheritance tax planning. To quote Edmiston: "The proposed criterion for marriage is that two people love each other. The word “love” does not appear in the official words that are used in the wedding ceremony. If we accept that love is the sole criterion, then why cannot three people love each other? If there is no possibility of genetic offspring or indeed no requirement for consummation, why should not close relatives get married? If that were to happen, I can see all sorts of interesting possibilities for inheritance tax planning. We would open a Pandora’s Box."
Mike Huckabee
Associated Press
Huckabee (who is, worryingly, a presidential candidate) predicted that the legalisation of gay marriage will lead to the government bringing criminal charges among those who are oppose gay rights and pastors who preach against gay marriage. This, Huckabee says, will lead to the "criminalisation about Christianity".
Judge Roy Moore
Erik S. Lesser via Getty Images
This actual real-life judge who makes decisions for the greater good of mankind said that gay marriage will "literally cause the destruction of our country"... LITERALLY.
The Jensens
Canberra City News
This couple who vowed to divorce and live in sin if gay marriage was legalised in Australia
David Silvester
This UKIP councillor famously blamed the devastating floods in the UK in 2014 on the Government's decision to legalise gay marriage.
Alan Keyes
This anti-gay activists insists that if the government goes against 'divine law' and legalises same-sex marriage, then the state will have limitless power, become a communist regime and eventually lead to the "murder of the masses". Woah.
Pat Robertson
This guy reckons that God will destroy America. Jeez. He also believes that no one would be faced with the terrible task of baking a wedding cake for gay men in ye olden days because Jesus would have stoned them to death to begin with.
Tony Perkins
This Family Research Council president told Washington Watch that gay marriage would lead to the end of humanity. That's right. All humans. Gone.

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