"Principle Voices has appeared to be more progressive in terms of opening up the communication pathways," said Bonnie Peters with the Family Support Center. "We've always gotten calls to provide clinical services for polygamous communities, but not all of the polygamous communities knew of our services. More people have called us not only wanting services, but asking questions. That is wonderful."

Their seminars have been well received.

"If we don't speak up, then people are going to continue to believe the lies and stereotypes," said Rebekah Foster, a plural wife who said she is an independent fundamentalist. "They (Principle Voices) are responsible for pulling down those walls and those lies and fears."

The group has publicly condemned abuse within plural communities.

"We knew abuse existed," Kelsch said. "It exists in every community, and we didn't feel it served our purpose to deny any of that. But to be open and up front, it helped the communities stop hiding because of their fear of polygamy being blamed."

Principle Voices has pushed polygamous groups to raise their marriage age to 18, saying that by doing so they will be complying with the law and not abandoning their religious doctrine. Most recently, a coalition under the group's umbrella said it is working to draft a formal statement from polygamous churches saying they do not condone underage marriages.

There is still one law that won't be followed.

"Polygamy becomes a gray area," said Batchelor. "It's against the law, but it's one area they feel they have to break the law."

The Utah Attorney General's Office has said it won't prosecute bigamy per se, but instead focuses its resources on going after child abuse, sex crimes, domestic violence, and welfare fraud within polygamous communities. Bigamy is used in addition to those charges.

The raid

The one group that still does not participate in Principle Voices is the Fundamentalist LDS Church, but Wilde and Batchelor have hope.

"We are willing to open that door," said Batchelor. "They can educate us, and hopefully there's things we can do for them."

FLDS member and spokesman Willie Jessop recently met with Batchelor and other Principle Voices members in West Jordan. A dialogue is beginning, she said. They also toured the YFZ Ranch and met with FLDS members in Eldorado, Texas.

The raid brought many polygamous groups together. In April, Principle Voices staged a rally in Salt Lake City and sent representatives to Texas with care packages for the women and children.

"I'm excited to see some of the steps they've taken," Batchelor said of the FLDS. "I guess they would also learn they need to do things differently. I'm excited they're speaking publicly and defending themselves and giving their side of the story so people can have perspective."

For Principle Voices, their ultimate goal is decriminalization of polygamy. It's not something government is rushing to help with.

"That's not an area where we can come to an agreement, but there are areas where we can work together and we can agree," Murphy said.

Wilde hopes it will happen one day.

"I don't know if that will happen in my lifetime or not," she said. "But I'd like to see the community at large have more understanding and respect for our culture."

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com