A religious sect leader charged with promoting bigamy was released from jail Wednesday after a judge reduced his bond from $10 million to $100,000.

House of Yahweh founder Yisrayl Bill Hawkins is not charged with having more than one wife but with promoting multiple spouses for some men in his West Texas group. If convicted of the second-degree felony, Hawkins faces from two to 20 years in prison.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

British Columbia's de facto legalization of polygamy could force a massive overhaul of family law and result in demands that would overwhelm the taxpayer-financed social safety net.

That's what Ida Chong, B.C.'s minister responsible for women's issues, has been told by her officials in briefing notes prepared in 2006 prior to her ministry's budget estimates being debated.

Family law, social programs and even public and private insurance benefits schemes were established on the basis of average-sized, monogamous families. No one contemplated fundamentalist Mormon families composed of several wives and 30, 40, 50 or 100-plus children.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

When Ephraim Hammon returns home from a day of working construction near Arizona's border with Utah, he's greeted by his wife SherylLynne. And then by his wife Leah.

Polygamy, once hidden in the shadows of Utah and Arizona, is breaking into the open as fundamentalist Mormons push to decriminalize it on religious grounds, while at the same time stamping out abuses such as forced marriages of underage brides.

The growing confidence of polygamists and their willingness to go public come at an awkward moment for mainstream Mormons, who are now in the spotlight as Republican Mitt Romney, a prominent Mormon, seeks the U.S. presidency.

The Salt Lake City, Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon church, introduced polygamy before the Civil War but banned it in 1890 when the federal government threatened to deny Utah statehood. Today, about 40,000 "fundamentalist Mormons" in Utah and nearby states live polygamy illegally.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

As 'Big Love' enters a second season on Monday, the HBO series about a fictional polygamous family is inspiring emotions from pride to fury among real polygamists where the show is set in a Salt Lake City suburb.

'There's a certain truth to it,' said Anne Wilde, a 71-year-old widow who was part of a family of plural wives for 33 years.

'Here's a family of three wives that lives in the community and they just blend into the neighborhood, although they don't say too much about it.'

But Wilde said she blocks her eyes when scenes get intimate and bridles at the show's trademark sexual tension, saying it's too racy for many of the estimated 37,000 fundamentalist Mormons who practice polygamy in Utah and Arizona.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Polygamous marriage is flourishing in Britain as the Government admits for the first time that nearly a thousand men are living legally with multiple wives.

Although the families are entitled to claim social security for each wife, no one has counted how many of them are on benefits.

The separate practice of unauthorised polygamy is also believed to have become commonplace in some Muslim communities. The Ministry of Justice admits that it has no estimates of numbers for these unions, which are often presided over by an Islamic cleric.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

A town hall meeting brought politicians, polygamists, activists and community members together here to vent and share their feelings about reaching out to victims of abuse in closed polygamous communities.

Hundreds packed the Dixie Center to offer their opinions Tuesday night.

"Why is there a statute of limitations on rape and molestation?" a person identified as "victim" wrote in comments read to the audience. "How can the women and children get justice when the statute exists?"

Others pushed for decriminalization of polygamy.

"I am not a lawbreaker, but I am practicing civil disobedience," said LeAnne Timpson, a member of the fundamentalist community of Centennial Park, Ariz.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

A Colorado City plumber accused of taking a teenage girl as a plural wife pleaded no contest to two charges late Tuesday, resolving the seventh of eight cases filed against men from the polygamous community.

Dale Evans Barlow, 49, had been charged with sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor, the same charges each of the men faced. The sexual conduct charge was dropped in exchange for his no contest plea to the conspiracy count and another undesignated crime.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

Kyrgyzstan's parliament has voted against a measure that would decriminalize polygamy.

Supporters of the measure, including Justice Minister Marat Kayipov, had wanted to remove the article on polygamy from the Criminal Code.   FULL ARTICLE LINK

If Kyrgyzstan legalises polygamy, it could undermine accepted standards of family and anti-discrimination law as well as damaging the country’s image abroad, local commentators say.

Kyrgyzstan’s justice ministry has proposed abolishing article 153 of the criminal code, which makes polygamy punishable by up to two years in prison.

Justice minister Marat Kayipov explained to NBCentralAsia that abolishing penalties for men with more than one wife are part of a policy of making the criminal code more humane.

Kayipov argues that having two wives and supporting both families should not be classed as a crime.   FULL ARTICLE LINK