This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Two groups opposed to polygamy on Friday called for advertisers to boycott two TLC shows, but it wasn't one of the network's shows about polygamy that spurred the call.
The impetus was the show "19 Kids and Counting" and allegations that one of its stars, Josh Duggar, molested girls when he was a teenager. TLC has removed the show from its schedule. It's not clear when or if the program will return.
TLC also airs the show "Sister Wives." It's about the Browns, a polygamous family from Lehi. They moved to Las Vegas after their show aired and law enforcement in Utah County began investigating them for polygamy.
Sound Choices Coalition, a Utah-based group, and Las Vegas-based Voices for Dignity issued a joint press release Friday. It mentioned "19 Kids and Counting" and "Sister Wives," and urged sponsors to discontinue advertising on shows that "Suppress Women's and Children's Rights, or Minimize or Hide Sexual Abuse of Children."
"There is strong evidence that females raised in highly patriarchal cultures are more vulnerable to these kinds of sexual abuse," the press release reads. "In addition, these abuses are more prevalent in cultures where women are required to have large numbers of children and where those children become mini surrogate parents responsible for raising their own siblings."
A TLC spokeswoman did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Kristyn Decker, Sound Choices Coalition's executive director, in an interview Friday said her group has sent letters before to TLC expressing its concerns. Decker, a former polygamist wife, also has appeared on an episode of "Sister Wives," though she has complained the show was edited to minimize her remarks and make her look bad.
"Our focus is on the shows that are demeaning to women and force women to have many children," Decker said.
The criminal investigation into the Browns spurred them to file a federal lawsuit. A judge ruled in the Browns' favor and struck down Utah's statute outlawing polygamy. Utah is appealing the judge's ruling.
Bigamy — defined as having more than one active marriage license — remains a felony.
TLC also has aired the short-lived show "My Five Wives," about another Utah polygamous family.
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