Re: [UUPoly-L] The Great Open Marriage Catastrophe

[Anita Wagner <imapolygirl@yahoo.com>]

'storm - After I recently outed myself at my UU church via a local newspaper article, I was approached by an elderly woman at a church event who told me how much she appreciated my willingness to say publicly that I'm a poly person.  We chatted for a while, and she shared with me that in the early 1970s there were several long-time member couples who tried open marriage as a group with disastrous consequences, both for the individual couples and for the congregation in terms of amount of controversy and conflict that this brought to the congregational equilibrium.  She specifically referenced the human potential movement, of which I know little but intend to know more.

She didn't trying to persuade me against polyamory and seemed to feel quite the opposite.  She was happy to hear that we know a lot today about how to make it work and take seriously many aspects of open relating that she and the people involved didn't out of naivete'.  Apparently there were at least a couple of divorces that resulted.  

I didn't have enough time just then to delve into the story more deeply, but I plan to follow up with her again and see what else I can learn.  

Anita