World Net Daily Raises Specter of Polygamy Following Same-Sex Marriage (Again!)

The ultra-conservative and anti-gay website World Net Daily (WND) has once again claimed that the legalization of same-sex marriage will create support for polygamy.

In the website's latest article about polygamy, WND says that after the California Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2010 it "would not be illogical to expect that support for polygamy soon would follow." To prove their point, the website conducted a poll with Wenzel Strategies, a public-opinion research and media consulting company, to find out how many Americans actually "support" polygamy.

"A full 22 percent of the respondents say there is no legal justification for denying polygamy, based on the fact that legislation and judicial decisions have affirmed the validity of same-sex 'marriage' for homosexuals," the article says. It goes on to say that 18. 7 percent were uncertain and 18 percent said, "there was no moral justification for denying polygamy."

"When the concept of polygamy was introduced to the respondent, one in five Americans said they saw it as either a preferred lifestyle or an equally acceptable lifestyle," said Fritz Wenzel in his analysis of the results.

"About this same percentage said they saw no legal or moral justification for prohibiting the practice. While there was significant objection to this practice on moral grounds by conservatives, about one in five respondents across the philosophical spectrum said that, given legal rulings paving the way for gay marriage, they could not object to similar legal findings on polygamy."

WND says that the California Supreme Court Justice Marvin Baxter predicted the growing support for polygamy in 2010, soon after California allowed same-sex couples to marry.

"The bans on incestuous and polygamous marriages are ancient and deep-rooted, and, as the majority suggests, they are supported by strong considerations of social policy." Baxter said. "Who can say that, in 10, 15 or 20 years, an activist court might not rely on the majority's analysis to conclude, on the basis of a perceived evolution in community values, that the laws prohibiting polygamous and incestuous marriages were no longer constitutionally justified?"

Baxter isn't the only political figure to compare marriage equality to polygamy.

In January, GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum had an intense exchange with students from a New Hampshire college about gay marriage and equated same-sex marriage to polygamy.

When a student asked if Santorum felt that two gay men had the right to marry to be happy, Santorum responded by asking her if she thought it was alright if more than two people should be allowed to marry.

"If you're not happy unless you're married to five other people, is that OK?" he asked. The politician's response elicited boos from the audience.