These three things are all currently, or have in the recent past, been labeled as amoral and destructive to society as a major reason for disallowing them.  Now clearly in recent years the gay community has made quite a bit of progress on the gay marriage front and that progress is likely to continue.

So my question is what additional arguments against polygamy and/or prostitution make them different or should they be addressed and subsequently legalized as well?

PS - And just to be clear, no I'm not trying to draw any sort of equivalence between these things.  I'm pointing out that they were all attacked based on similar arguments.

Edit: Yes I know i misspelled polygamy in the title, but I can't change it now ><

Prostitution is legal here in Belgium, why not tax what you can't stop. Gay marriage is legal as well, there is nothing wrong about being gay.

Last time I checked we've not opened the gates to hell by legalising these things, so i guess it's ok.

All should be legal, not a huge fan of polygamy as I believe it can often be abused but it still should be legal.

Prostitution should be legalised in my opinion. here's why.

1. It happens you can't stop it, so why not tax it.
2. It's a dangerous job, but if it's legally it can be monitored and guided.
3. It will allow for prostitutes to be able to see doctors openly.
4. It will stop it being an underground trade, which doesn't benefit anyone.

Yeah, i've no problem with either gay marriage or prostitution, but i find myself balking at polygamy and i'm not really sure why, I've never really given it that much thought. My first question is, why would you? Why would you want to share someone you loved with someone else?

I guess my gut feeling is that it is impossible to have an equal relationship with 3+ people, as the person who has multiple spouses is always in a position of relative power of perceived to be of greater importance than the others in the partnership. I just don't think that is a good basis for a healthy relationship. As for it being illegal, i'm not so sure.

edit: thought i would just add the legal status here in Australia, maybe others could do the same.

Prostitution legal, the others not.

In case some were unclear I'm actually for gay couples getting the same tax breaks and rights as straight couples and I think it's frankly stupid that we've tried to pretend prostitution is going anywhere given it's lengthy history that says otherwise. Not to mention that the situation for prostitutes could be improved by taking it off the streets and enforcing standards...or that it would become a new source of tax revenue.

In my original OP I had stated my feelings on polygamy before opting to let others chime in first, and I had actually said almost verbatim what Rath and Hsrob (his first paragraph) combined said. Specifically that I thought it had shown potential for abuse in the past and that I was uneasy about the idea and wasn't entirely sure why.

Well, the Netherlands is 2/3d on the way and we still live have not been absorbed into hell.

I'm also in favor of legalizing polygamy. If couples want it, why not? It's their life. Of course the marriage has to be checked by an independant because the possibilities for fraud are clearly present

Meh, I am not bothered about polygamy. If they legalise it, fine, if they don't then meh.

Frankly, I don't care about any of them and would allow all of them to be legalized. Consensual adults should be allowed to do whatever they want as long as it doesn't cause actual harm to others. And people being "upset" about it doesn't count.

However, if polygamy were legalized, I think only people over 18 should be allowed to enter into a polygamous marriage with no exceptions whatsoever. Too many crazy religious cults have shown that allowing people to get married younger than that in polygamous marriages creates some seriously fucked up situations that in no way shape or form can be called consensual.

what is polygamy?