Subject: Petition Speech given at the Capitol for Article III of the Utah Constitution
Issue: Government
Date: February, 2002
Author: Linda Kelsch

     When I was three years old, my big sister woke me in the dark hours of the morning. As she dressed me and took me out to the car, I felt an unsettling fear deep inside. I meekly asked her why we were going away in the dark. The car was parked under the neighbor’s bedroom window. She quickly hushed me and whispered that if I made any noise, and it woke the neighbors, they would call the police, we would be taken away from our parents, and Daddy would be sent to jail. As soon as everyone was in the car, Dad drove us to the canyon to stay for a few days until he realized he could not keep us there for long and he would have to face the law sooner or later.

     Dad was eventually sent to the state penitentiary for unlawful cohabitation. As a child, I had nightmares of my little sister and I hiding in a culvert under the street because there was a fire engine siren. As an adult, I had nightmares of a policeman coming to my door to take away my babies. It is still very difficult for me to speak publicly. I recently heard the same warning my sister gave me fifty years ago, from a loved one when I made a decision to speak out. Thousands of people from the polygamous culture live with these fears every day.

     The prohibition of polygamy in Article III of the Utah Constitution is a blatantly illegal, unconstitutional, political maneuver based on a need to control the Mormons over 100 years ago. The settlers and founders of Utah, many of whom were also polygamists, are our honored, pioneer heritage. The public justification for this unconscionable, un-American, politically driven act was based on the same rumors and misinformation about polygamy that is being spread today in the media.

     Recent prosecutions and anti-polygamy laws seem also designed to generate discrimination subtle enough to be accepted by the rest of society, but an unjust restraint on an entire culture, similar to the program used by Nazis on the Jews before the Holocaust. Laws purported to protect women and children of this culture are forcing them deeper into silence and out of reach of those who truly want to help. Their faith is only strengthened by resolve, but those who need help are forced by these very laws to suffer greater isolation and fear.

     Decriminalizing or redefining all laws pertaining to plural marriage is the only way to create the safety women and children of this culture need to get medical help and protection from any domestic abuse that is common to all societies. I respectfully appeal to all legislators and the governor to take necessary steps to protect this minority who have been unjustly discriminated against for over one hundred years. It is time to heal.

Linda Kelsch, candidate for Utah House District 53