Same-sex polygamy

Same-sex polygamy refers to the concept of polygamous matrimonial unions between three or more people of the same sex. As of 2008, the topic has not been explored as a possible legal course for same-sex marriage, as polygamy is illegal in most Western countries (including those which offer various degrees of civil rights and liberties to LGBT citizens) while homosexuality is illegal or suppressed in most non-Western countries (including those in which polygamy, usually of the polygynous form, is legal and protected to various degrees).

Controversy
Since the beginning of the LGBT social movements, particularly after the beginning of advocacy for same-sex marriage, a constant accusation of the aforementioned advocates' agenda is that the legalization of same-sex marriage would be followed thereafter by the re-legalization of polygamy ; in the countries of North America, polygamy has long been seen as a deviant practice, and most matrimonial organizations have been exclusively oriented to monogamous and monoamorous relationships. Among the supporters of de-criminalization is the U.S. Libertarian Party, which also advocates a total de-criminalization of same-sex relationships.

In 2006, The Advocate published a cover story on a hypothetical same-sex polygamy being a further step following the legalization of same-sex marriage, mostly in reaction to the aforementioned argument. The article was criticized by same-sex marriage advocates as playing into the hands of social conservatives and by at least one pro-polygamy website that took an anti-same-sex marriage stance ; it was also used by social conservative organizations as "proof" of the "gay agenda".