Valerie says she considers herself the third wife although she and her husband are not legally married. "I call myself his spouse but legally I am not. That's just a label I put on myself."
Although Valerie is open about her plural family, her husband would not appear on camera. "It's too much of a risk for him," Valerie says. "Utah law is really absurd, because if a man were to live with another woman besides his wife and then call her a wife and support her children, that's criminal and they can get zero to five years for that. That's considered a third-degree felony. But if they choose to have a mistress, then there's a blind eye or a wink, and that's really unfair in this society."
Instead of hiding in fear, Valerie wishes she could live her life openly. "We really hope to see [polygamy] decriminalized. Not necessarily legalized because I don't think necessarily that it should be for everyone. But I feel like I should have the right to live this way when this is a world of such alternative lifestyles," Valerie says.
Published 10/26/2007
