If Same Sex Marriage Were Legal (1)

Same Sex Marriage (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If same sex marriage were legal in the UK, would there be any moral or philosophical reason not to also legalise polygamy?

If no, then that answer at least has the benefit of consistency. It allows for marriage (as with much else in the postmodern age) to be defined in an way that the individual wishes.  Many Libertarians do in fact take this view, and reject the idea that the state should legislate on marriage at all.

If an advocate of same sex marriage were to argue at the same time that polygamy should not be legalised in the UK (it carries a maximum prison sentence of seven years at present) then it would be incumbent upon that person to show why the one should be legal and the other not. It would be interesting to hear whether such a person could make such a case (for legal same sex marriage but illegal polygamy) without resorting to moral judgements about the nature of marriage - a thing that many liberal advocates of same sex marriage are reluctant to do. Indeed, many advocates of same sex marriage are highly critical of those who oppose it on moral grounds. 

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