On Monday, January 25, 2016, I was invited as a guest with The Real Bob Mitchell, on WWL in New Orleans, Louisiana, at 2:35 pm local time (3:35 pm ET my time zone).
I was asked to share my polygamy expertise regarding the news of Thursday, January 21, 2016, when the “Sister Wives” case, Brown v. Buhman, was heard at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, Colorado.
The host, Bob Mitchell, is a renowned local fixture on radio for decades. During the interview, he declared how he could not understand how or why any law would be going after people without more than one marriage license. I thanked him and said, “Exactly!” He joked that he would be willing to go to the court and explain that for us!
As with other interviews before it, this interview became another useful tool for supporters of unrelated consenting adult polygamy – UCAP – to share when discussing the issues with others.
For Monday, January 25, 2016, I was invited as a guest on The Bill Meyer Show, on KMED in Medfield, Oregon, at 7:10 am local time (10:10 am ET my time zone).
I was asked to come on the show to answer questions regarding the news of Thursday, January 21, 2016, when the “Sister Wives” case, Brown v. Buhman, was heard at the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Denver, Colorado.
I was more than happy to answer questions about UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy) as well as the specifics of the case in court.
The hour portion of that episode (less ad-spots) was posted on the show’s website. My actual interview occurs from 7:45 – 22:35. Just before I went on, I got the impression that the host was anticipating that I might be be some whining liberal-type, demanding government recognition of UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy). But as the interview progressed, he seemed to quite positively realize that I was definitely not that at all. Indeed, after the interview was finished, as the host continued to talk about the topic afterward with callers, he even said, at 26:00, to a caller, “I think that Mark was right!”
Overall, this interview became another useful tool for UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy) activists to share when discussing the issues with others.
The issue of unrelated consenting adult polyamy (UCAP) is proceeding through the courts.
On Thursday, January 21, 2016, the “Sister Wives” case, formally known as Brown v. Buhman, was being heard at the Tenth District Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado. This court is the very last court before proceeding up to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
To explain the issues of UCAP polygamy and that particular case, I began giving many media interviews.
For the next afternoon (Friday, January 22, 2016), I was scheduled for 2:05pm ET to give an interview on The Bill Cunningham Show, on 700 WLW, in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The host was professional and respectful, asking several excellent questions, both about polygamy and the Brown v. Buhman case. The interview was subsequently posted to youtube, titled, Mark Henkel on Bill Cunningham Show – 1-22-2016 – Polygamy
After it was posted, the posted youtube was also announced on twitter.
Serendiptously, this interview has become an excellent tool for supporters of UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy) to use for explaining the issues.
On Thursday, January 21, 2016, the Brown v. Buhman case (aka, the “Sister Wives” case) was being heard at the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth District, in Denver, Colorado.
To explain the issues of polygamy and that case, I began being asked to do media interviews.
For the next morning (Friday, January 22, 2016), I was scheduled for 8:50am ET to give an interview with host Sergio Sanchez on 710 KURV, out of McAllen, Texas.
In the area of Utah and its surrounding vicinity, the Salt Lake Tribune operates a blog about the crimes of Mormon-based polygamists. On Twitter, they identify themselves as @TribunePolygamy. They are pretty much just a Mormon-based outlet, limited mostly to their local section of the country.
That local media-blog has been well aware of me on the larger national level over this last decade, knowing that I was – and am – the leading voice for the National Polygamy Rights Movement for UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy).
Indeed, throughout the ordeal a decade ago with the FLDS and its leader Warren Jeffs, the National Polygamy Rights Movement for Consenting Adults has adamantly opposed those criminals and explained that that group was never part of the national movement. No doubt, I have directly been involved in educating the media. Here are several examples of reports distributed to the media.
The fact has long been made clear. Labeling the FLDS as a “polygamist sect” is considered as libellous against normal UCAPs – especially for the vast majority of us around the country who have no beliefs in anything connected to Mormonism or to its religious texts or doctrines. While we are aware that the LDS want to distance themselves from the FLDS, the fact remains that the “mainstream” Latter Day Saints (LDS) share vastly more in common with the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints (FLDS) than UCAPs. We have made this known ever since the FLDS first made news over the previous decade. Moreover, any media trying to act like I don’t exist or that these clarifications have not been made, are simply deploying a tactic that self-identifies a media outlet’s anti-polygamy bias.
Anyway, only a few months ago, I finally started my twitter account, @MHenkelPolygamy. (I had previously viewed Twitter as a “noisy” fad with a character limitation.) My new twitter account has since become a resource for people who want to know the actual facts about UCAP (unrelated consenting adult polygamy) and overall freedom.
Among those twitter-followers, the localized-Utah, Mormon-based media, @TribunePolygamy, was following my twitter account. I was glad to follow their twitter account too.
Today, that all changed, it seems.
Shortly after noon (ET) today, the twitter-poster at @TribunePolygamy posted a news link from their blog. Alas, doing so, they made the “mistake” yet again of identifying the FLDS as a “polygamist sect.” Here is the tweet that was posted.
In less than 3 hours, I discovered that @TribunePolygamy had blocked me.
They did not seek more information for clarity and accuracy. They did not ask me how I could help them be better at reporting the facts. They did not even engage a conversation with me at all, with neither public nor private message.
Alas, it appears that they (or their authorized twitter-poster) have neither any willingness to be objective nor willingness to learn information for better accuracy in their reporting. Instead, @TribunePolygamy purposely chose to silence and hide the education of facts and to keep their misrepresentation uncorrected.
Rather than seek more information, they just censored it and sought to block me.
