Will the US President Support Full Marriage Equality?

President Obama, who is running for a second term, has recently announced his support for the same-gender freedom to marry. It is looking like his Democratic Party will be officially adopting support for the same-gender freedom to marry into their national platform. Mitt Romney, who will be the Republican challenger for the November election, has opposed the same-gender freedom to marry, but he's been known to change his mind more than the average American politician. It isn't looking like the Republican Party will be supporting the same-gender freedom to marry this year in their national platform. It really is a shame what has happened to that party in that they have long abandoned their past leadership in civil rights. The party originated in the 19th century as anti-slavery and even into the 1960s was supportive of civil rights, but has lately been more or less controlled by those opposing LGBT rights, the same-gender freedom to marry, and full marriage equality. There are some prominent Republicans who have announced their support of the same-gender freedom to marry, so there is hope there.

But I wanted to focus on another part of full marriage equality: the polygamous freedom to marry and rights for the polyamorous in general. Unless something tragic happens (goodness forbid), for the next 4+ years, either Obama or Romney is going to be President (sorry, my friends who are hoping for another candidate to win... the reality of American Presidential elections is not on your side, at least for this election cycle). If Romney is elected, he could be there for as long as 8 years.

Both of these men come from a heritage of polygamy. You can look it up yourself, and Talal Al-Khatib is calling attention to it at discovery.com. Obama has championed equality and civil rights. Romney has claimed to want "less government." Those are both reasons to support adult relationship rights in general and full marriage equality: equality (obviously) and getting the government out of the role of telling adults they can't marry each other or, in some cases, even be together.

Obama's father, Barack Obama, Sr., was already married just as he was about to marry Dunham. Obama's grandfather, Hussein Onyango, had at least four wives and his great-grandfather, Obama Opiyo, had five, including two who were sisters, according to a report by the Washington Post.

During the early days of the Mormon church, of which Romney and his ancestors are members, polygamy was acceptable and widely practiced. Romney's great-grandfathers, Miles Park Romney and Helaman Pratt, practiced polygamy, and in the case of the former, even left the country as a result of anti-polygamy laws in the United States.

I look forward to the day when an American President stands up and proudly says, "An adult should be free to marry any consenting adults. I support full marriage equality."