Jennifer R. Povey
1 min readSep 12, 2022

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I have a lot of mixed feelings about this.

However, certain forms of polyamory are illegal in most of the United States. The same battles are being fought.

Polyfidelity is complicated by laws to block bigamy and polygamy. In some places not only can you not marry more than one person, but you can't have a recognized domestic partnership with more than one person. In two states, cohabitation is still illegal (Mississippi and Michigan), although it's not enforced. In Michigan, it is a felony to cohabit with somebody else if you are married...even if it's all three of you living together.

Adultery is still illegal to the poiint of jail time in 16 states. Some states have adjusted things so that it's not a crime if your spouse knows what's going on. These laws are rarely enforced, thankfully.

At some levels, thus, we should see polyamory as queer because polyamorous people still don't have marriage rights.

I would say that it may or may not be; it depends a lot on what, precisely, is going on. If somebody is a cis man who has an open relationship with a cis woman and only "samples" other women...that's not queer. But a cis man who is in a long-term relationship with two cis women who are in a long-term relationship with each other...you could argue that makes him queer even if he is technically heterosexual because the *relationship* is queer...

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Jennifer R. Povey
Jennifer R. Povey

Written by Jennifer R. Povey

I write about fantasy, science fiction and horror, LGBT issues, travel, and social issues.

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