[Michaelnewerb]

I don't see why polygamous marriages should be banned by law. People do what they want with their private life and the government shouldn't forbid any consensual relationship between adults. What's more, it is extremely hypocritical to allow gay marriages (like many Western European countries nowadays) and still ban polygamous marriages. After all polygamy is much more natural, has been widely practised around the world since the dawn of civilisations, and is still accepted even in very conservative societies like the Muslim countries.

Furthermore, ménage Ã* trois do exist, and are perfectly legal as long as not more than two of the three parties involved are married. If a three-way cohabitation is legal, and a homosexual marriage is legal, why not a polygamous one ? Is it better to keep a concubine beside the official wife, as was the normal practice among the well-off in Imperial China ? The prohibition of polygamy historically comes from the Christian Church. But again if gay marriages are legal, why on earth should polygamy be a crime punishable by jail time as it is now ?

The main problem in Western societies is the legal question of divorce (well the financial part), if one of the wives wants to leave her husband. But this could very easily be sorted out by a prenuptial agreement. I don't understand how anybody gets married without one anyway. That's pure naïveté.