Cheshire Calhoun doesn't believe polygamy should be illegal.
She isn't a polygamist, and she isn't a member of the Church of Latter-day Saints, which historically permitted men to take multiple wives.
But the philosophy professor from Colby College in Waterville, Maine says legalizing polygamy would secure rights for women informally practicing polygamy in fundamentalist religious communities.
"It makes it economically disadvantageous to take lots of wives, because what it means is that those wives have entitlement to divorce and they have an entitlement to sue under divorce law for share of the assets," Calhoun said. "So if you have 20 wives, you have 20 potential individuals suing for a share of their assets."
A longtime advocate for gay rights, Calhoun said attention to polygamy might also build a stronger case for same-sex marriage.
Calhoun said opponents of same-sex marriage have invoked polygamy in slippery-slope arguments, suggesting the legalization of marriage between same-sex couples could lead to state-approved unions of incestuous or bestial relationships — between a human and an animal.
She says the best response to the slippery slope argument is, "Why not polygamy?"
Nic Flores, a senior and member of United DePauw, said he isn't convinced either way after listening to Calhoun's presentation.
He said that polygamy often comes up in discussions about same-sex marriage but wanted to keep an open mind on the matter.
Betty Cao, also a senior and member of United DePauw, said that she thought Calhoun's arguments weren't sufficient enough to make a case for using polygamy in same-sex marriage advocacy.
Calhoun admits that including polygamy in arguments for same-sex marriage presents many problems, but she believes that negative perception can change.
"These kinds of worries about, if you allow same-sex marriage, then what about polygamy, I think can be sort of reversed," Calhoun said. "Those very same arguments are going to be a reason for allowing polygamy."
Eight states currently allow same-sex marriage. None permit polygamy.
Calhoun visited DePauw Thursday afternoon to present her research on the intersections of polygamy and the same-sex marriage debate in a lecture entitled, "Who's Afraid of Polygamous Marriage?"
According to Calhoun, that's a groundbreaking combination.
"With few exceptions, advocates of same-sex marriage rights have exercised vigorous silence about the other marriage bar [against polygamy] currently in effect."
Calhoun said that academics, too, are silent on polygamy. And she believes that's a mistake.
Opponents to same-sex marriage often cite a traditionalist interpretation of marriage as solely between one man and one woman.
But evaluating the historical tradition of polygamy, Calhoun said, would strengthen the case for same-sex marriage.
"Polygamous marriage can't be dismissed as a kind of negligible blip on an otherwise consistent tradition of heterosexual, monogamous marriage," Calhoun said. "On the contrary, polygamy is very much a part of a millennia-old pluralist Judeo-Christian tradition of marriage."
She said The Bible makes no denunciation of polygamy and it would behoove same-sex marriage advocates to point this out.
Calhoun said a democratic state should be neutral about moral issues.
She said that monogamous, heterosexual relationships have a demonstrated past of reinforcing gendered roles.
If anything, Calhoun said, same-sex marriages provide the best means to avoid gender inequality.