Utah polygamous family says going on TV liberating

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The newest Utah polygamous family featured in a reality TV show says sharing their story with a wide audience has been liberating.

Brady Williams and his five wives were a bit apprehensive ahead of the airing of a pilot episode in September, but they said this week in an interview with The Associated Press that it felt liberating to be open about who they are and what they believe. "It really is like coming out of the closet," said Brady Williams, 43. "It's very liberating." His wives feel the same way, including his second, Robyn Williams, 40, who said: "I feel more free to just be who I am and not be so afraid."

The first of nine episodes of the show, "My Five Wives," airs Sunday on TLC. It chronicles the life of Brady Williams, his five wives and their 24 children who live in a small rural community outside of Salt Lake City dominated by a branch of the fundamentalist Mormon church. The family once belonged to the group, known as the Apostolic United Brethren, but withdrew during the mid-2000s after re-evaluating their core beliefs. Now, they practice polygamy not because they think they must to get to heaven, and avoid hell, but because they prefer the lifestyle.

Their show begins airing in a social and political climate that has softened significantly toward plural families in recent years. A federal judge in Utah struck down key parts of the state's polygamy laws in December, marking a victory for the Williams and hundreds of other polygamous families in the state. The ruling decriminalizes polygamy, making only bigamy — holding marriage licenses with multiple partners —illegal. The family that brought that lawsuit against the state of Utah, Kody Brown and his four wives from TLC's "Sister Wives," is credited with helping create greater acceptance for plural families.