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 Nathan Collier, 46, said his bid to make his marriage to his
second wife “legitimate” was influenced by the U.S. Supreme Court
decision last week that legalized same-sex marriages in the United
States.
Collier, his lawful wife and a woman he said he married in a
“spiritual” ceremony earlier this week sought a license from
officials in Billings to legalize their plural marriage.
Bigamy and polygamy are illegal under both federal and Montana state
law.
Collier said the request took Yellowstone County officials by
surprise. After “a lot of hesitancy and stuttering,” they told him
the request would need vetting by the county attorney.
Neither the county clerk’s nor the attorney’s office responded to
several requests for comment on Thursday.
 Collier, whose domestic arrangements were featured earlier this year
on the TLC reality series “Sister Wives,” said grounds for his
lawsuit would be pegged to the dissenting decision in last week's
5-4 Supreme Court ruling that the Constitution's guarantees of due
process and equal protection under the law mean that states cannot
ban same-sex unions.
In his dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: "If not
having the opportunity to marry 'serves to disrespect and
subordinate’ gay and lesbian couples, why wouldn’t the same
'imposition of this disability' ... serve to disrespect and
subordinate people who find fulfillment in polyamorous
relationships?”
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Collier, who owns a refrigeration firm in Billings, was
excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
for committing polygamy, which the Mormon faith banned in 1890 in
order for Utah to gain statehood.
Under Montana law, a person can be accused of the misdemeanor crime
of bigamy if, while married, “the person knowingly contracts or
purports to contract another marriage.” Montana also makes it a
misdemeanor crime to marry a bigamist if it’s known that person is
already lawfully wed.
(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Victoria
Cavaliere and Paul Tait)
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