Bill in California legislature (SB 1476) would allow a child to legally have more than two parents

Discussion
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This landmark bill, which represents major progress for the polyamory movement (see message below) has passed the California state Senate and is now in the Assembly. It leaves untouched the definition of who can qualify as a parent, but eliminates the limit of two per child, allowing judges to split custody among three or more individuals acting as parents.

  Libertarians are already way ahead of the general public in understanding that whom to marry ought to be a personal choice, not a legal matter. The question is, will we end up being seen as pioneers ahead of our time as this next civil rights movement progresses, or -- as happened to some extent with GLBTQ rights -- will the LP be too cautious and fearful of alienating the mainstream public to reap the full political benefits of our early-adopter status? Both supporters and opponents of polyamory agree that support and acceptance of it is growing rapidly:

http://www.tantricnews.com/polyamory-the-next-civil-rights-movement.html

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/modules/news/print.php?storyid=9562

  Libertarians would do well to stand up for equal poly rights now, and hasten the day when government will no longer engage in social engineering by legally favoring certain types of relationships over others while strengthening our reputation as champions of individual liberty and legitimate civil rights against state oppression.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/02/4604048/california-bill-would-allow-a.html#storylink=cpy

Love & Liberty,
                                                 ((( starchild )))

At-Large Representative, Libertarian Party of California Executive Committee
              At-Large Representative, Libertarian National Committee

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Thanks for this post, Starchild. To its author's credit, the original article does mention children's need for stability, as well as the numerous legal issues this law would bring up (taxation, inheritance, probate, health care). As you, I am all for LPSF taking leadership roles, as long as we are willing to intelligently and honestly face the consequences of causes we espouse.

As an aside, I would like to share a memory this new law caused me to recall. At every birthday party we parents had to contend with sad little kids who tearfully had to turn down an invitation because "I's my dad's weekend," and they had to pack their little bags to satisfy the laws of shared custody. That sad memory clouds my enthusiasm for multiple parenthood, multiple custodial parents, and tearfully missed birthday parties.

Marcy